Angel in Chains (The Fallen 3)

Two down. The rest of the pack to go.

Az smiled in anticipation.

No way. Jade watched Az’s powerful form rush from the room. She wasn’t just going to stand back, to hide, while Az went out there and faced her nightmare.

The guy had forgotten, she wasn’t just a human anymore. As the adrenaline pumped through her, Jade’s body began to heat up with a charge she’d felt before. Burn, baby, burn.

If she had to, she could burn her way right through that pack.

I won’t let you take all the risk, Az.

The guy needed to think again.

She strode forward. Tanner’s fast grip on her arm jerked her right back. “Just where do you think you’re goin’ now, ma’am?”

Jade narrowed her eyes. “I think I’m going into the fight.”

Snick.

She glanced down at her wrist. The gleaming, gold cuff that he’d taken off Marna now locked around her wrist.

Snick.

The other cuff circled his thick wrist.

Son of a bitch. She really hadn’t seen that one coming. Sneaky shifter.

“Don’t think so,” Tanner said softly. “You see, despite what you may think, I don’t have a death wish, and I don’t want that Fallen lover of yours coming to send my ass to hell.”

She yanked on the cuff.

His brows lowered. “Settle down. Once we hear the shots, and we know it’s all clear . . .” He glanced over at Cody. The demon had taken up a position blocking the now closed and barred door. “Then we’ll go out and you can take as many swings at me as you want.”

And she would. Settle down, my ass.

But then she heard a groan. A long, shuddering groan that seemed to be shaking the building itself.

“Fuck,” Tanner spat and whirled toward the right wall.

A long crevice was sliding down the white surface. Breaking it open, breaking—

An explosion rocked right through the wall. Bricks and boards flew into the air, fire roared, and Jade and Tanner both slammed backwards before they hit the hard floor.

The explosion froze Az. Two shifters surrounded him, each using human females as shields, and when the thundering reverberation rocked through the club, they started to laugh.

“Too late now,” one said, and he tossed the sobbing blond female at Az.

Az grabbed her, barely stopping her from crashing into the ground. She clung to him, desperate. Hysterical.

“Should’ve left the humans to rot,” the other shifter muttered as he sliced his claws down the brunette’s face.

She shrieked in pain and fury.

Az shook off the blonde and jumped forward, but the shifter had already jerked back and tossed aside his prey like a piece of trash.

All of the shifters were pulling back now.

They dumped the wounded humans on the floor and laughed at their pain.

Az’s heart thudded in his ears. The shifters were in his way. Deliberately lining up so that they stood between him and the winding hallway that led back to Jade.

The explosion had come from that side of the building.

“Divide and f**king conquer,” Sam snarled as he maneuvered to Az’s side. “The animals are smarter than we thought.”

“Yeah,” the shifter in the front said. His green eyes almost glowed and his fangs glinted as he grinned. “We are.” Then the guy yanked open his jacket and pulled out a thin, white vial.

What the hell—

“Oh, shit,” Sam snarled as he shoved at Az.

But that guy wasn’t the only one with a vial. Two other shifters also pulled them out. They tossed the bottles at Az. At Sam. The glass shattered, and white powder spilled around them.

More vials hit him from the back. Other shifters who’d closed in. Others who’d been armed.

Ready. Too ready. He wasn’t the only one who’d come packing a magical weapon.

He tried to step forward and found himself trapped. No big surprise.

Because he knew by the scent that it wasn’t just powder that those bastards had tossed at him.

It was Angel Dust.

The one weapon powerful enough to hold a Fallen trapped in place—because it was a weapon forged from the wings of an angel.

“I guess the bitch’s wings didn’t go to waste after all.” The green-eyed shifter smirked. “Brandt was right. You grind ’em up, and they really are as good as gold.”

Az’s hands slammed into an invisible wall.

“Now . . .” The shifter’s fangs sharpened even more as he glanced around. “Let’s torch this place.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tanner’s body slumped on top of hers. Choking on smoke, Jade shoved up, trying to push the guy to the side.

But in the next instant, Tanner was tossed away from her—well, tossed as far as he could go with those cuffs locking them. She tumbled after him, but was brought up short by the iron-hard grip on her waist.

She’d know that too-hard grip anywhere. Especially in her nightmares.

“Hello, Jade.”

The flames were flickering around her. She choked down the ash and forced herself to look up and into Brandt’s bright eyes. “H-how did you—”

“Plain, old-fashioned explosives.” His rather boyish grin widened. “Humans do come up with some good inventions, you know.”

Tanner groaned.

Brandt’s smile vanished. He stared at the cuffs, then reached down and tried to yank them apart.

His shifter strength would have shredded normal cuffs, but in this case . . .

“N-not gonna work,” Tanner managed as he shoved what looked like a dislocated shoulder back into place. “You’re not . . . gettin’ her away . . . from me.”

Brandt’s eyes narrowed. “Wanna bet, brother?”

Az—where are you? He must have heard the explosion. He’d be rushing in, any minute, with gun literally blazing. He’d better be. She just had to stall Brandt long enough for her angel to arrive.

“Th-they’re Other proof,” she whispered to Brandt. “You have to find the key to unlock them.” She tried to look weak and defenseless. While he searched for the keys, Az could have more time to burst in and—

Brandt just laughed. “I don’t have time for a f**king key.” Claws burst from his fingertips. “I’ll just cut off his damn hand.”

He lifted up his claws and sliced down.

“No!” Jade screamed as she dove for Tanner. She slammed into him, and they rolled across the floor.

Rolled, until they came up against the still form of Cody.

The demon’s neck was twisted. His eyes closed.