Avenging Angel (The Fallen 4)

She shouldn’t have felt pain. He shouldn’t be feeling pain now. They’d always been taught—

Angels don’t feel.

It looked like they’d all been taught wrong. Was that why so many were falling? Because they couldn’t hold the emotions in check any longer?

“I’m going to hunt the one who is after you. I will kill him.” A vow from Bastion.

No. She couldn’t let him sacrifice so much for her.

Marna drew in a deep breath. She didn’t want to hurt Bastion, but sometimes, there wasn’t a choice. Sometimes you had to hurt the ones you loved.

I won’t let him be punished for me.

She caught his hand and curled her fingers around his flesh. “Did I ever tell you,” she asked softly as her gaze met his, “how much I care for you?”

His eyes widened. “Marna . . .”

“So I hope you understand why I have to do this.” She pulled up the power that had been growing within her. Getting stronger each day. And Marna blasted that energy right at Bastion. Not enough power to kill him, never that, but enough to send the angel flying away from her and crashing onto the rooftop. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she turned away. “But it’s my battle, and I won’t have you turned into—”

Me.

Broken. Lost.

“Marna—” Her name, gasped, weak.

She hurried to the edge of the roof. She’d never tried this without wings before. Hopefully, it wouldn’t hurt her too much. Either way, she’d heal. Angels always did.

“Marna!”

She stepped off the roof and fell straight to the ground below.

“So where the hell are we heading?” Jonathan asked, voice rising. “If an angel took her, can’t she be anyplace?”

Yes, she could be. Tanner shoved his foot down harder on that accelerator. When he caught up to Bastion, he was going to make that angel wish for a swift trip to hell.

You can’t take her from me.

“He would have gotten her as far from Tanner as possible,” Cody said. “Taken her someplace where he felt in control.”

“And that’s not the swamp.” The swamp wasn’t the place for that lily-white, pretty-boy angel. But the city, probably some spot up high so he could look down on everyone else, yeah, that was more the angel’s style.

And that was why Tanner had driven back to the city as fast as the patrol car would go.

“We have to be careful,” Jonathan told him as his gaze swept the tight streets. “If any other cops see you . . .”

Tanner nodded. “They won’t be taking me in.” His life as a cop was over. Gone. He knew that. Pity. Fucking shame. He’d always wanted to protect. To stop the criminals hunting in the streets.

To make up for my own past. But that was all gone now. He was hunted, because of the freak who’d targeted him and Marna.

“What—what kinds of angels are out there?” Jonathan asked. A fast glance showed him running a shaking hand through his hair. “When Captain told me . . . she never said there were so many.”

“Maybe she didn’t know,” Cody said, still leaning forward and holding that cage. “I think Jillian was more interested in stealing angel blood than anything else.”

“Bitch,” Jonathan muttered. “She deserved the death you gave her.”

Tanner didn’t speak, just kept driving as fast as he could. Hold on, Marna. I’m coming.

“There are so many. Angels of death . . . guardians . . . punishers,” Cody began, listing some of the angels that walked the earth.

“Punishers?” Jonathan asked as he turned to look at Cody. “What—like angels who actually punish humans?”

“Not just humans,” Cody said. “Anyone. They’ve come after their share of supernaturals, too. You cross the line, and they’ll come for you.”

Tanner wished the two of them would just shut the hell up. He wanted to focus on Marna. If he could just pick up her scent again . . .

A sudden blast of music filled the car. Swearing, Jonathan yanked out his cell. “Detective Pardue. What? Where?”

Tanner raced through a yellow light. He’d go search by the Square. Maybe she was—

“Go to St. Louis Street,” Jonathan told him, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “I’ve got an informant there, one who’s paid to let me know when he sees anything unusual going on.”

Because the human wanted to know everything about the supernaturals. Didn’t he realize just how dangerous that was?

“That was him on the phone. He said—he said he just saw a woman jump off a three-story building, and then the woman just walked away without a scratch.”

Marna.

The tires squealed as Tanner rounded the corner, and because, dammit, humans were coming out and cars were in his way, he flashed on his lights and let his siren scream.

The buildings rushed by him in a blur.

“Low profile, man,” Jonathan snapped. “Low freaking profile.”

Screw that. Another screeching turn. One more. Then . . .

He had her scent. It was the sweetest scent in the world. Tanner slammed the car to a stop and leapt out. He raced through the line of alleys. Jumped over fences. His body burned with the need to shift, but he held the beast back. Not here. Not now.

Not—

He saw her. She must have heard the thud of his footsteps because she turned around. Her eyes widened and she ran toward him with her arms out.

“He loves her,” Cody said, voice tight. “If anything happens to Marna . . .”

Jonathan jumped from the car. Tanner had already taken off, running fast as he followed the angel’s scent. He hadn’t even looked back.

A mistake.

Cody was in the back. The demon was strong enough that he could probably kick the doors open, but, for the moment he was trapped. Vulnerable.

Jonathan pulled out his gun.

Cody’s eyes widened. His fist slammed into the window.

And Jonathan’s bullet shattered the glass between them. Because it wasn’t a normal bullet—he knew better than to battle a monster with a bullet made by humans.

“She doesn’t love him,” Jonathan said and fired again. “And soon it won’t matter how the f**k that animal feels—he’ll be dead.”

He’d make sure of it. He turned away from the car and began to stalk after his partner. The power pulsed just beneath his skin. Then, because he could, because it would be so f**king fitting, he let his form shift. The bones of his face twisted and reshaped. He grew taller. Leaner.