Angel in Chains (The Fallen 3)

The flames licked their way across the floor, slowly destroying everything in their path. Too slowly.

Sam alternately snarled and swore as the heat and smoke thickened in the room.

Az didn’t move. Not now. He just waited. The flames only had to come a bit closer.

Just a bit.

The fire crackled over the edges of the Angel Dust. The dust ignited, flaring in a blue-white flame.

And the prison was broken.

Az lunged from the trap and shoved out his hands. The flames lanced his skin, but he ignored the fire and pushed out with his own power. A bitter wind swept through Sunrise, howling like a wolf, and the flames died in an instant.

Slowly, his head turned to the right. Toward the door that Brandt had used when he took Jade away.

Bastion was gone. The angel had better not be near her.

Az took a step forward.

“Uh, yeah, brother,” Sam’s voice stopped him. “Before you head out to kick ass and save the day, do you think you can do me a favor and get me the hell out of here?”

He glanced back. Sam stood with his arms crossed over his chest and managed to look both pissed and bored.

Az shook his head. “You’ll just try to stop me.”

Sam’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“It’s my fight.” He took a breath. Tasted ash and death. His eyes closed. “Good-bye, Sam.”

His brother screamed his name, but it was too late. Az used his enhanced speed to rush out of the bar and to whip right past the dazed-looking firefighters who stared up at the smoldering scene.

He raced forward two blocks and only stopped when he was sure no humans were around. “Bastion!” The angel had better heed his summons. “Get down here, now!” Az might have been kicked out of heaven, but he still possessed plenty of power.

He’d ruled the Death Angels, and even those still dwelling in heaven knew to fear him.

Wind blew lightly against his face. Not wind—air stirred by wings. Bastion’s form appeared before him. No expression was on the angel’s face.

“Where is she?” Az demanded.

Bastion gazed silently back at him.

“If she’s in the damn book of death . . .” His book—once, he’d been the one to note the names and the passages of lives. But those names hadn’t mattered to him. Collecting souls had been his duty. Jade mattered. “If Jade’s in that book, then that means someone is keeping track of her pretty much twenty-four seven.”

The angel didn’t deny or confirm that.

Az grabbed Bastion and shoved him against the alley’s brick wall. He yanked out his weapon and put the gun to Bastion’s heart. “It’s loaded with brimstone. I won’t shoot your stomach this time. I’ll shoot you right in the heart.”

Bastion swallowed. “No, you won’t. You won’t shoot at all.”

Testing him? The guy should know better.

“You . . . of all the angels . . . you understand duty.” Bastion didn’t struggle in his hold. Just stood there as the barrel of the gun dug into his chest. “You know what must be done.”

Az’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Tell me where she is or get ready to say good-bye to heaven.”

Bastion shook his head and held his ground. “It’s . . . you I’m protecting. You need to let her go.”

Gravel crunched behind them. “I’ve got his scent,” Tanner said. “Forget the angel, I can lead you to Brandt.”

Az tensed. “What about Cody?” He knew the form that Tanner had carried out of Sunrise must have been the demon doctor.

“He’ll make it.” Though Tanner didn’t sound so confident. “Demons can heal from just about anything.”

Az stared into Bastion’s gaze. “If I let you go, you’ll try to take her.”

“No.” Bastion shook his head. “My touch doesn’t work on her anymore, remember? I won’t be the angel who takes her life. The one who loves her will be.”

What? He frowned at the angel, lost. Then understanding sank in, understanding and horror.

He spun away. “Get me to her, now,” he barked at Tanner.

Tanner, fangs bared, nodded.

As they rushed away, Az could feel his control ripping. He had to get to Jade before it was too late.

I was loving you.

And he . . . had he been loving her?

Hold on, Jade. Hold. On.

Brandt took her to the cemetery. The rest of his shifters appeared from behind the heavy, white tombs, coming out like ghosts as they surrounded her.

The broken tomb that Az had fallen on so long before lay in pieces just feet from them all.

“This is where he dies,” Brandt said. “Heather told me about this place . . . how he fell.” His lips curled as he glanced up at the starlit sky. “It seems only fitting that I send him to hell at this spot.”

She rubbed her arms. A chill was in the air, beating down on her. “He’s stronger than you are.”

Brandt’s smirk said that he doubted that. “I kicked his ass once before.”

“Only because he didn’t know what you were then.” Az hadn’t been prepared for Brandt’s strength.

Brandt’s gaze cut to her. “And just what am I?”

Evil. If only she’d seen it from the beginning. “Half angel, half beast.”

The others were transforming around them. Changing with the pop and snap of bones as the moon shone down on them.

Brandt held up his hand and stared at the claws that burst from his fingertips. “I always thought it was a curse, having her blood in me.”

She edged away from him.

“My father said it made me weak. Made me too softhearted on our prey.”

“Yeah, well, your father was a dick.” She needed to find a weapon. Her gaze darted around the area. Those panthers would be done with their shift soon. She needed to attack before then. They were always at their weakest during those moments of transformation.

There.

One of the tombs had been separated from the others by an old-fashioned, wrought-iron fence.

“My father was the most vicious shifter I’ve ever seen.” Brandt rolled his shoulders. “But you put him in the ground for me.”

She stumbled toward the fence, deliberately tripping so that her hands had to fly out and catch onto the iron for support. Slowly, she turned toward him. Her hands locked around one of the posts. “I didn’t do that for you. He was trying to rape me. I killed him for me.”

“Fair enough.” A pause. Brandt’s head tilted to the right as he studied her. “I killed your parents for me.”