Angel of Darkness (The Fallen 1)

He bent next to the sheriff. Still breathing. His jaw wasn’t broken, though it must be made of glass. Keenan glanced back up at Nicole. “You up for a run?” The faintest scent of flowers teased his nose and he tensed, his gaze sharpening.

But no one else was there.

Just Nicole, with her wide, worried gaze. And the sheriff, but he was all but dead to the world.

That scent …

Time to get out of there.

They couldn’t take the sheriff’s car. Too obvious. But with their power and speed, they could put a whole lot of distance between them and the man on the ground.

She gave a grim nod. “What about him? When he wakes up, he’ll put out an APB on me. More deputies will start searching.”

“Then I guess we need to make sure they don’t find you.” He rose and scanned the dark area around them. “We run until we find the nearest house. We take any car we find.”

“Steal it?” She bit her lip as her stare landed on the sheriff. The guy did look rather defenseless, knocked out like that. His arms were spread. His hat had fallen onto the ground near his head, and his thinning gray hair stuck to his forehead. “Isn’t that breaking one of the commandments and not very, um, angel like?”

Going to dwell on that, was she?

“Told you, sweet, I fell.” Now they had to move. Sleeping Beauty wasn’t going to stay out for long. “You ready to run or do you want him to toss your butt in jail?”

She swallowed. “Run.”

Good. He laced his fingers through hers, and they raced into the night.

The angel watched them run. Keenan was so fast he could have easily left the vampire, had that been what the Fallen wanted.

But he knew Keenan didn’t want to leave her.

That was the whole crux of this nightmare. Keenan didn’t want to leave the one who’d lied, f**ked, and killed.

Sad. He’d had so much potential. So much promise. And for Keenan to now fall so low …

The vampire would suffer for this. Tempting. Making the strong weak.

She’d suffer.

Wings flapped as the angel prepared to soar above his charges. Death was coming. Sweeping closer in the air. This time, Death wouldn’t be denied. No last-minute reprieve would be given because of temptation.

Not for the vampire, anyway. There was still a chance for Keenan. Grace could be regained.

It just took one selfless act. One courageous, determined act.

And all would be forgiven.

Sins … wiped clean.

As the angel soared into the night sky, his black wings merged with the darkness.

Sheriff Tom Duggley pushed up, flexing his jaw. That little lady had one damn devil of a punch. But then, he should have expected that.

He rose and shuffled toward his car. The scent of flowers hung in the air, a light scent, totally out of place in the all but barren land.

Tom was surprised they’d left his keys—and the car. Bad move. They’d be on foot, and so much easier to track now.

He grabbed the radio. “Need an APB …” He spit out a mouthful of blood. That punch had been real hard.

But she hadn’t killed him.

Odd, that.

“We got us a wanted fugitive in the area. A Nicole St. James …” He rattled off her description.

Killing him would have been so easy for her. Child’s play, especially with him knocked out.

But she’d let him live.

And that big hoss of a protective shadow she’d had with her hadn’t gone for his head, either.

“Approach with extreme caution,” he said as his fingers tightened around the radio. The deputies wouldn’t understand just how extreme the situation would be.

They didn’t know about vampires. He did.

Good thing he’d taken the liberty of ordering special bullets for his department. A sweet little batch made just for situations like this.

A silver bullet/holy water combination—a mix that had trickled through law enforcement personnel a few years back.

A mix that worked wonders on the border. You never knew exactly what you’d see on a Texas night, not when you’d been patrolling for as long as he had.

But she’d let him live.

Damn odd for a vamp.

Damn odd. Especially since, if the stories were true, Nicole St. James had killed two men since her vampire transformation.

The motorcycle roared down the road. The engine vibrated between Nicole’s legs as she held tight to her angel.

Angel.

Impossible.

But she’d spent her life as a semi-good Catholic girl. She’d been taught about angels since the time she learned her first few words. She’d always believed, until …

Until she’d thought God turned away from her.

Not when she’d gotten the news from the doctor. No, she’d still believed. Still hoped. Still wanted to pray.

But…

That alley. That blood-soaked hell of an alley had convinced her. And then, the things she’d done …

Her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her forehead against Keenan’s strong back. No helmets, of course. They’d been lucky to steal the bike. The bike’s owner hadn’t been forgetful enough to leave helmets behind. Now they were just driving hard and driving fast. Her arms were around Keenan, holding tight.

Trusting him didn’t seem wise, but what choice did she have? She’d been thrown into this new world, with no damn clue how to survive. She’d barely scraped by the last few months. There’d been so many times she’d come close to death.

And she’d changed. The woman she’d been—yes, she really had died in that alley. The woman holding onto the back of a fallen angel had fallen herself.

He’d said that if she drank his blood, it wouldn’t weaken him, so the man seemed to be her perfect prey.

Perfect, but …

I can’t trust him.

When a vamp took from prey, a link was formed. A link that allowed the vamp to slip into the prey’s mind. Sometimes to control, other times to steal thoughts or memories.

When you had control over someone, trust wasn’t exactly an issue. So most vamps didn’t worry about trusting their prey.

But she didn’t want control. Never had. She knew too well what it was like to be a puppet on someone else’s string.

Soon the lights of a city glittered in the distance. San Antonio. Good. The bigger the city, the easier it was for a paranormal to hide. And to feed.

Keenan snaked through the streets, guiding the bike easily, and she held him tighter. Whether she wanted it or not, her fate was being tied to his.

Keenan braked on a busy corner lined with bars, drunk humans, and cars.