Angel in Chains (The Fallen 3)

Empty. Her eyes were empty.

Az grabbed her and yanked Jade up into his arms. He held her body against his chest. How could she already feel so cold? Jade should be warm. Her silken skin should singe him with a touch.

Not ice. Not her. She’d only been cold once before, when death had come too close to taking her.

Her head hung limply, and his heart stopped. “Jade, dammit, come back!” A desperate order. A painful plea.

She wasn’t moving.

He bit into his wrist. Forced his blood into her mouth. His blood had helped her once. It would help again. She’d be okay, she’d be—

“You know it doesn’t work like that.” Sam’s voice. Quiet. Sad. He didn’t even know how Sam had gotten there, and he didn’t care.

There was only one thing he cared about. One person. Her. “Tell me how to bring Jade back.” His hand smoothed over her dark hair. Had he ever told her how beautiful her hair was? Had he ever told her that she was beautiful?

You are, Jade. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Better than even the golden streets in heaven.

“I . . . don’t know how to bring her back.”

“Then get me someone who f**king does!” Rage beat at him. A constant scream echoed in his head. She’d been looking at him when she fell. When that ass**le had snapped her neck, she’d been looking right at him and begging him to shoot.

He hadn’t. “I didn’t want to hurt her.” Az’s lips feathered over Jade’s cold cheek.

“I know.” Sam’s hand closed around his shoulder. “She’s not hurting anymore.”

Az stiffened. “Bring her back.” A demand. His control was splintering. He could feel it inside. A darkness opening up, yawning, swallowing everything.

Sam didn’t move his hand. “I can’t. I don’t have that kind of power.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. His Jade. Had he ever told her that he’d been . . . happy . . . when she was near? That he’d started to dream when he slept. He’d never dreamed before. Until her.

All of his dreams were of her.

His hands were shaking. “Seline came back to you. She died.” He knew. He’d been there. “You got her back.”

“Seline was half-angel.” Sam’s voice was soft, still with that sad, sympathetic edge that was tearing into Az. “Your Jade . . . she isn’t built to come back. Even with the blood you gave her, she’s human at heart.”

His blood had smeared on her cheek. “Summon Mateo.” The witch was close by. He wouldn’t have been able to flee this quickly.

Sam’s fingers tightened. “He can’t help you.”

“Someone had better.” He wasn’t letting her go. Az rose, holding her close in his arms. She was so still. “Fucking. Summon. Mateo!” He roared the words, and the tombs around him cracked. Skeletons fell onto the ground as the earth buckled beneath him. “Witch, get back here!”

He turned and found Tanner standing, weak, pale, but alive. Why was he alive, when Jade wasn’t? He hadn’t seen a Death Angel, would have fought the bastard if he had, but he’d seen no signs of dark wings.

She shouldn’t be dead. There’d been no Death Angel.

But Jade was still and quiet in his arms. Her heart didn’t beat. No air swept into her lungs.

Had the angel just come and claimed her too swiftly? Had he been so blinded by his grief that he’d missed that desperate moment? The scent of flowers was so strong in this wretched place. So many angels had been there. Were still there?

Tanner was alive. Az’s rage focused on the shifter who’d sent him on the wrong path. Why did Tanner still live? Why?

Why was anyone alive? If Jade couldn’t live . . .

Deep crevices opened beneath his feet. More tombs shattered.

“You had her for a little while. That will have to be enough,” Sam said as he backed away a few steps. His face was tight, his eyes staring at Az with—fear?

He should be afraid. Everyone should. Az wasn’t going to let her be taken from him.

The rage and grief tore through him. Brandt had broken her beautiful neck. In one, fast, brutal instant, Brandt took her from me. Az swallowed and tasted hate. “Is the time you have with Seline . . . enough?”

His brother flinched. “No.”

“Then get me that crossroads spirit.” The fury was breaking through. Fire burst beside him, racing right over the graves and scorching the ground. He tilted back his head and glared up at the starlight sky. “Bastion!”

“You can’t call back the dead.” This came from Tanner. Az pinned him with a scathing stare. The shifter swallowed and straightened his shoulders. “Even you aren’t that strong. It hurts, I know, but you have to let her go.”

He didn’t want to let her go. “I . . . need her.” She was so slight in his arms.

Why were his cheeks wet?

His gaze fell to her once more. “I-I love her.” Love. A human emotion. But a human had slipped into his heart. Now that human was breaking his heart.

Was this his true punishment? For all the sins he had committed, was this the end he’d been fated to receive?

Don’t take her. Please.

She should live. Be happy. Be free.

You aren’t that strong. Tanner’s words echoed in his ears. The shifter was right. He wasn’t strong. Without Jade, he was weak.

The angels should have known that. They should have taken better care . . .

Wind whipped against his cheeks. The scent of flowers teased his nose. The angel had heeded his call. Az kept his eyes on Seline and simply said, “Give her back.”

“I tried to tell you what was coming.” No emotion shadowed Bastion’s voice. “I am sorry, Azrael. But this was meant to be.”

The words drifted in and out of his head. Jade’s face had bleached of color and raindrops began to fall on her face. Rain, from a cloudless sky. But thunder was rumbling. Lightning flashing across the heavens.

Power leaked from him. Holding her with one arm, he raised his gun and aimed it at Bastion. He still had two bullets left in the chamber. “Bring her back or see what it’s like to die.” His head pounded and the scream echoing in his mind just wouldn’t end. That scream—it was Jade’s voice. Jade calling his name, over and over. She wanted him to help her.

Jade.

Flashes flew through his mind, images of her.

Jade . . . smiling at him.

Kissing him.

I . . . wasn’t using you, Az. I was loving you.