“Angels do not feel.”
Her wings curved around her, and she had the weird impression they were trying to give her a hug. “This isn’t me.”
“This is what you will be.” Then he turned and walked away, his steps slow and certain. “All you need is time to forget.”
The doors opened instantly for him, and then they closed just as quickly in his wake.
“I don’t want to forget,” Seline whispered. She hurried toward the doors. They didn’t open. Not even when she shoved them with all her strength. They. Wouldn’t. Open.
Seline paced back to the bed. Trapped in paradise. How could that even happen? This place was supposed to be perfect. No fear. No worry. No pain.
But she wanted pain. She wanted every bit—good and bad—that came with her life.
The succubus inside you died. How long had she tried to smother that demon side?
But now, without that part of herself, Seline just felt . . . lost.
Because I can still feel. She wasn’t like the angels here. She felt, and her feelings were close to ripping her apart.
Sam, I need you!
She needed him, and she’d have him.
Breath catching, she climbed onto the bed. Seline closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Maybe the angels were wrong. Maybe her demon side wasn’t gone, not yet.
Please, not yet.
Sam . . . Sam, be there.
She let her mind drift and pushed hard for powers that didn’t want to rise. She’d never been able to contact someone from this kind of distance before—she didn’t even know how damn far away she was. But she’d never been this desperate before, either.
She dug into her soul, grabbed the power she could still feel, weak, but there.
Her heart ripped in two, but she pushed and pushed . . .
Sam, take a walk with me.
In dreams.
After three days, Sam slept. No, he collapsed. He’d searched nearly all of Mexico, but there’d been no sign of Seline.
Mateo hadn’t carried through with his end of the deal. The witch had given him more of that containment powder, but so far that had been pretty f**king useless. There were no angels around to contain.
Don’t want angels. Don’t want heaven. Mateo knew exactly what he wanted.
Lying bastard. How hard was it to get a ticket to hell?
The numbness took him first, weighing down Sam’s body. His chest burned even though the wound near his heart had healed.
Seline.
When Sam closed his eyes, the nightmares came. Because what more did he have but nightmares? He dreamed of fire and a fall that never ended. He dreamed of pain, agony, of wings that burned and of an unforgiving earth that broke all of his bones.
Then . . . her.
The beast was at Seline’s throat. Her eyes were on Sam.
Love . . .
Why? He tried to shove the images away. He’d failed her. He’d watched while she died. Why the hell had she loved him?
The fire flared hotter. He couldn’t see her anymore. Could only see the flames.
Just the fire.
Then . . .
Nothing.
Seline, come back to me.
“I can’t.” Her whisper.
The darkness lifted a bit, and he saw her on the bed. Shadows cloaked her.
“Seline?” Hope had him leaping toward her.
She lifted her hands to him. His mouth crashed down on hers. She tasted, oh, damn, she tasted like life. Heaven. Everything he’d ever wanted but never realized he needed. Her body trembled against his. His lips lifted, pushing against her helplessly, and he growled, “I thought you’d left me.”
“I did.” The pain in her voice broke the heart that was hers. Her fingers smoothed over his chest. “And I don’t know how to get back.” A tear slid down her cheek.
He caught the tear with his mouth. Tasted the salt. Tasted her. Real. “Sweetheart, you are back, and I’m not letting you go. Stay. Just . . . stay.” He had to make her stay. “I’m more . . . than what you’ve seen. We can have a life together. We can have everything.”
Because he’d give her anything.
“Stay.” His hold tightened on her.
“I don’t know how!” Her hand seemed cool on his chest. She eased away from him. Her head tilted back as she studied him. Her neck was smooth, unlined. No scars, no blood.
And he knew this wasn’t real. Fuck, no. Just another nightmare. She’d leave him and reality would be his hell on earth. “I love you.” Just a nightmare, but he’d tell her anyway. Why hadn’t he told her before? Why hadn’t he realized the truth? “I’d trade my life for yours in an instant.”
Something whispered in the darkness, a soft rustle of sound. Wind seemed to brush over his face. He stared into the shadows around him, aware that his heart had started to thud too fast.
“I can’t get back to you.” Now her hands were on his face. Her fingers trailed down his cheek, over her jaw. As if memorizing him. “I don’t want to forget.”
“You won’t.” A vow. “I won’t.”
But she was fading. Her lips pressed against his once more. He tasted her breath. Life. Love.
Seline.
She vanished. The fire came back. The pain. The torture. But he wouldn’t forget. His Seline had come to him.
And she’d had black angel wings.
She hadn’t been dragged to hell. His angel had been sent to heaven.
He fought through the fire in his nightmares and opened his eyes. He glared at the cracking ceiling above him. “You aren’t taking her!”
Sam knew he didn’t have to fight his way through hell to get Seline back. But he would have to knock down the gates of paradise.
If you wanted to see an angel, sometimes you had to raise a little hell. Sam stood in the middle of the crowded street, his gaze on the dark sky above him. Power crackled in the air around him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Az’s voice. Very slowly, Sam turned his head to the right. He’d dumped Az in a motel three days before. He hadn’t wanted to deal with him. Killing him . . . well, shit, Az had tried to sacrifice himself so that Sam would be protected. Killing him after that just hadn’t seemed fair. So he’d let the bastard walk away with his head still attached to his body.
Only it seemed Az was walking back to him now. The guy must have a death wish.
Sam sure did. Gotta be a family trait.
Sam smiled and knew the grin would flash with evil. “I’m about to call down some angels.”
Az blinked. “Uh, you sure that’s the best plan you’ve got?”