Authors: Cynthia Eden

Tags: #Romance, #Fiction, #Paranormal, #General

Angel in Chains (15 page)

BOOK: Angel in Chains

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No, she didn’t.

Az shot him. Not the heart. He didn’t want to kill Bastion. But the bullet thudded deep into the angel’s stomach.

Bastion doubled over and howled in agony.

“That’s pain,” Az told him. “It’s what it feels like when angels
hurt
.”

Bastion glanced up at him, eyes stunned.

“Get out of here,” Az told him. “And
stay away from Jade
.”

The angel’s fingers were stained with blood. “You . . . you’ll regret this . . .”

Az stared back at him. “You’ll need to dig the bullet out. The longer it stays in you, the more it will hurt and burn.”

Bastion’s wings began to flap as the angel rose. “I’ll . . . be back for her.”

But not right away. The angel would need to heal. That would buy them some time.

“You . . . you’ve just asked for a war.”

He’d asked for a life.

A muscle flexed along Bastion’s jaw. “The punishment angels will come for you.”

Like he was supposed to be afraid of them? Not likely. “Are you forgetting?” He asked. “I’ve already fought one punishment angel. And Rogziel was the one who wound up in hell, not me.”
Enough of this
. Jade needed him. “Want to join the bastard?”

Bastion’s eyes narrowed as he fought the pain. “Death always finds a way,” Bastion snapped. “You know that.” Air rushed against Az’s skin as Bastion took to the sky. Despite his injury, the Death Angel soared quickly, hurtling upward and vanishing almost instantly.

Gone. For now.

“The scent . . .” Tanner inhaled. “Okay, want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

Az shoved the gun into the back of his jeans. “Not now.” He hurried inside and left the shifter on the porch. The smell of blood was stronger, and when he entered the back room, he saw Cody bent over Jade’s prone form. Tubes ran from her arm. The doc held one piece of tubing and a big-ass needle in his hands.

“This isn’t the way we’re supposed to do this . . .” Cody began.

Az stalked forward. It was the way they’d have to do it.

“A transfusion like this is too risky.” Sweat covered the doctor’s forehead. “The risk of infection, disease—”

“I don’t have any disease.” The guy could knock that worry off the list.

The doc didn’t look reassured. “What if your blood type doesn’t match hers?”

“Consider me a universal donor.” He knew his smile was bitter as Az ripped open his own vein and got to work connecting the tubing. Angel blood was supposed to be all-powerful. And his blood was Jade’s only chance. He’d either save her or—

Or I will keep fighting death as long as I must.

Cody rushed around the table and began the work of adjusting the tubes and monitoring the beeping array of machinery that he’d set up. Blood flowed from Az, dark red, as it filled the tube and slid its way to Jade’s body.

Az realized he was barely breathing. Waiting. Watching.
Fight, Jade. Fight.

The blood in the tube reached her. Fed into her body.

One second. Two. Az’s own heart had nearly stopped.
Jade . . . stay with me.

Jade’s eyes flew open. Her eyes weren’t the dark green that reminded him of lush fields he’d once seen in Ireland. Instead, the green was brighter than he’d ever seen it before.

Relief had his shoulders sagging. She’d be alright. She’d be—

Jade screamed. Again and again. Her long, horrified screams filled the air. Her eyes were on him. Full of terror.

And her screams wouldn’t stop.

Marna didn’t return to heaven. Bastion paced the Great Hall, unease rippling through him. She should have flown back to their realm by now.

He wasn’t afraid. He couldn’t feel fear. But a tightness constricted his chest as he remembered Azrael. Az—a Fallen who’d been ready to kill to protect a human.

Marna had been the one sent to claim the woman’s soul. Had she faced Az’s fury as well? Except . . . perhaps Az hadn’t just
threatened
to kill her.

Bastion’s wings spread as he launched from the Hall. Clouds raced by him, one after the other. He knew
where
Jade Pierce had been scheduled to die. At the edge of a Louisiana swamp, right under a cypress tree that swayed near a gator-infested pond. She should have died there, with Azrael at her side.

Marna had foreseen the human’s death days before. She’d come to him and told him because she’d been startled that Azrael had been in her vision.

Marna wasn’t like the others. He’d tried to protect her over the centuries and attempted to make sure that no one saw her weaknesses.

Or her fears.

She’d been afraid of Azrael. Most beings were, though. But Bastion knew that when Marna had gone out on that last mission, she’d been afraid to take someone that belonged to the Fallen. She’d feared how he might retaliate.

Perhaps she’d been right to be fearful.

The ground was a sea of green beneath him as he flew over the trees. Marna couldn’t just vanish.

His feet slammed down into the earth just yards from the swaying cypress tree. He stared at the signs of battle. Blood on the ground. The battered earth.

So much blood . . .

His nostrils flared as he strode forward. There was blood, but . . . more.

His heart began to pound faster in his chest. So fast that the deep beating startled him. He’d never been worried before. Never been afraid.

But this time . . .

Black feathers—
wings—
were on the ground, smeared with blood. His hand shook as he reached for the wings. An angel didn’t just lose her wings. It was nearly impossible to cut them. They could burn off in a fiery fall from heaven.

Or . . . or they could slip away when an angel died.

The drumming of his heart grew even louder. Marna was a good angel. Only wanting to help others. She should never have been a Death Angel. Carrying souls actually seemed to wound her. She should have been a guardian. She should have—

A scream ripped from him. Fury. Pain.

There were more black, bloody feathers. So many more. And the scent of blood that coated the feathers—it was angel blood.

Azrael had made sure that his mortal’s life was spared, and in exchange, he’d known just how to balance the scales of death to give Jade Pierce more of a fighting chance.

A life for a life.

If Bastion checked the Book of Death, Jade’s name probably wouldn’t even be listed anymore. A soul had been taken. Death had been satisfied for that instant in time.

Because Azrael had sacrificed an angel to let a human live.

Bastion’s heart burned in his chest. A Death Angel shouldn’t want vengeance. Punishment angels would be the ones to deliver fury and wrath.

But Azrael has already killed a punishment angel.

After his fall, Azrael had battled a rogue punishment angel named Rogziel. Rogziel hadn’t been given the lighter sentence of banishment from heaven for his crimes. Instead, Azrael had been the instrument of his destruction.

Would the other punishment angels go after Azrael for this offense?

Or would they fear him too much?

Azrael had introduced fear into the hearts of many angels.

The feathers fluttered in the breeze. There was no sign of Marna’s body. Only the broken remnants of her wings.

Bastion forced himself to rise. Slowly, his fingers released the black feathers that they clutched.

If the punishment angels would not do their job, then he would seek vengeance.

Azrael wouldn’t get to keep his human. He wouldn’t get to cheat death.

Because Death is coming for you, Az.

This time, Azrael would be the one to fear—and to die.

Marna, I am sorry, but you will be avenged.

“I’ve done all that I can.” The demon doc tossed his bloody gloves in the trash. He shook his head and stared down at Jade with tired eyes. “Now we just have to wait and see if your blood can help her.”

Jade hadn’t stopped screaming, not until Cody had pumped her full of sedatives that had knocked her out. Az had tried to get close to her, to comfort her, but as soon as he’d advanced, her screams had become even more frantic.

She’d looked at him, but seemed to see a monster.

Now she’s really seeing me.

“How long will she be out?”

“At least till dusk. Hell . . .” Cody rubbed his forehead. “With all those tranqs I gave her, an elephant would be out until sunset.”

Az stood by her side. He couldn’t move away. Her color seemed better. No lines of pain ravaged her face anymore. A sheet covered her chest and lower body. Beneath the sheet, bandages hid her injuries.

There was no way a human wouldn’t scar from those wounds. But then, a human shouldn’t live with them, either.

“You know that she’ll be . . .
more
when she wakes.” Cody’s voice was hesitant.

Az frowned and glanced at the demon.

Cody still gazed at Jade with a faint furrow between his brows. “Human before,” he murmured, “but, now, with your blood . . .”

“She’ll be the same as she was.”

Cody lifted a brow and turned his too dark stare on Az. “Do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to make yourself think that it’s true?” Cody exhaled on a rough sigh. “When the first angels fell and mated with humans, their blood mixed—”

“And demons were born.” He didn’t need a history lesson. He’d been
there
for that history. He’d witnessed the temptations. Cleaned up the chaos left in the wake of so much recklessness.

“Even vampires can go wild when they ingest an angel’s blood.” Cody lifted Jade’s wrist and checked her pulse. “I’ve heard vamps say they can actually drink an angel’s power through the blood.” He put her hand back down and stared at her still form. “I can’t help but wonder . . . did you think about the risks to her? Or did you just not care?”

“I wasn’t letting her die,” Az growled.

“But you weren’t going to let her stay human, either, were you?”

“She still is human! She won’t change.”

The doctor turned away. “She already has. Didn’t you hear her screams?”

Az brushed back her hair. He let his hand linger on her cheek. “She was delusional. Out of her mind from the pain and the attack—”

“No.” The demon stared out of the small window. “She just opened her eyes and saw monsters all around her. She saw monsters when she’d only seen men before.”

Az’s body tensed.

“She saw my black eyes,” the doctor continued as he turned to slowly face Az once more, “and I’m curious to know, what do you think she saw when she looked at you? Because whatever it was, that sight made her scream the loudest.”

C
HAPTER
T
EN

I
t was the beeping that woke her. A slow, steady beep of sound that gradually penetrated Jade’s consciousness. She opened her eyes, then immediately squinted against the light.

“You’re back.”

She stiffened at the deep voice.

“Don’t worry.” A warm hand covered hers. “You’re safe here.”

Jade turned her head and met Tanner’s worried stare. She licked her lips, swallowed back what tasted like ash on her tongue, and managed to ask, “Where am I?” Her voice came out cool and . . . normal. Why had she thought that she’d be hoarse? Why did the memory of screams whisper through her mind?

“Ah . . .” He exhaled. “Okay, don’t freak on me, but we’re at my brother’s place.”

In an instant, she yanked her hand away from him and snapped upright. Something sharp yanked on her arm. Quickly, she glanced at her right arm. What was that? A needle? An IV? She
hated
needles. Jade ripped it out and tossed it away from her. “You sold me out!”

“Easy.” He lifted both of his hands in one of those
I’m-harmless
gestures that people did. “I’m not talking about that brother, okay? Not the insane, psychotic prick who wants us both dead.” He jerked his thumb behind him, to the wall of bandages and medicine and what looked like hospital equipment. “My brother Cody is a doctor, and after you were injured—”

“You mean after you and that bitch witch friend of yours tried to kill me—”

“You weren’t going to make it back to the city alive.”

Okay, that stopped her. “I knew I was dying.” Crazy, but, she’d almost felt death touching her.

“Your angel wasn’t real keen to let you go.”

Angel.

Her gaze flew back to his.

“Yeah, I know what he is. This isn’t my first ball game, lady. And when we got here and he started talking to people that I couldn’t see and my nose”—he tapped said nose—“kept catching the scent of flowers, I knew Death was standing close by.”

Now Tanner had lost her. “Flowers? What are you even talking about?”

“An old legend. At least, some folks think it’s legend. When an angel’s close by, if you pay attention, you’ll catch the smell of flowers in the air.”

“Az doesn’t smell like flowers.” Man. Power. Not petunias.

“That’s because he’s not
exactly
an angel anymore, now is he?”

She swallowed. “No, he isn’t.” The bandages on her chest were pulling on her skin. She didn’t want to look down and see the mess that had been made of her flesh. She could still feel Brandt’s claws, sinking into her chest.

Jade took a deep breath and forced her head to lift. Tanner’s gaze was full of sympathy and that just made her feel vulnerable. And a little sad. “How am I still alive?”

“You’re alive because your veins are pumping with that not-quite angel blood.”

Shock froze her for a moment.

“We rushed you here,” he said. “My brother got you on his table, did his best to patch you up, and then Az gave you the dirtiest blood transfusion that I’ve ever seen.”

“Blood transfusion?” Goose bumps rose on her flesh.

“Um . . .” He inclined his head toward her. “I thought you were dead, but that ex-angel of yours brought you right back to life.”

She didn’t remember any transfusion. She didn’t remember a doctor. Only . . .

Black wings, rising above her. A monster with eyes darker than night.

Jade licked her lips. “Where is Az?”

Tanner glanced toward the shut door. “When we saw that you were starting to wake up, we figured it might be best if you didn’t see him or Cody first thing.”

“Cody?”

“My brother.”

Brandt had never mentioned him. But then again, he hadn’t told her about Tanner, either.

Jade rolled her shoulders. The doctor must have given her some fabulous drugs. She didn’t hurt at all. Actually, she felt stronger than she’d ever been before.

But . . . “Why would it be best for me not to see them?” That part didn’t make any sense.

“Because the last time you saw the two of them, you screamed so loud and long that we had to knock you out.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No, no, I didn’t—”

“I was outside, running in the woods, and your screams damn near deafened me.”

He didn’t look like he was bullshitting her.

“We wanted to make sure you woke up feeling calm and safe.”

A shifter was supposed to make her feel safe? She would’ve felt much safer with Az. Jade glanced around the room as she pushed up into a better sitting position. She was in a bed, a small, twin bed that had been pushed against the far right wall. Faint sunlight trickled through the thin white curtains. “How long was I out?”

“About ten hours.”

So long?

A light knock rapped at the door.

Tanner didn’t take his gaze off her. “You ready for this?”

She gave a light laugh that just came out sounding lost. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You will. ’Cause you aren’t the same anymore.” He squared his shoulders. “Just remember that you’re safe. I’ll be right beside you.”

She wanted Az beside her.

“Come in!” Tanner called out.

The door opened. A man’s dark head appeared. Not Az.

The guy came in. His broad shoulders pushed past the doorway. His head was down, his long hair brushing over his cheeks. “Glad you’re awake.” His voice was a deep rumble of sound. “You were starting to worry us.” His head lifted and his eyes met hers.

Black eyes.
Completely black eyes. Even the sclera. Every single part of his eyes were black.

Jade didn’t make a sound.

She’d heard stories, of course. She knew about the demons who walked the earth. Some demons possessed enormous power, enough to level a city block. Others were barely more than human. But, according to the stories, they all had the same eyes. Eyes as black as the night. They used glamour to change the color of their eyes and fool humans so they wouldn’t realize what monsters stood beside them.

This guy wasn’t using any glamour. He was showing her his real eyes.

He reached for her wrist. She managed—barely—not to yank her hand back from him.
Brandt’s brother, and a demon. Talk about having two strikes against you.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Two fingers pressed against her inner wrist as he checked her pulse. “I’m not like Brandt.”

She couldn’t look away from his gaze.

“You see me for what I am, don’t you?”

“I-is there a particular reason you aren’t bothering with the glamour magic?” Maybe he felt safe in his home. Maybe . . .

“I
am
using it. You can just see right through it.” He released her wrist. “You saw me the moment his blood filled your veins.”

So now she was seeing demons? Great. What she needed to see was an angel. “I want Az.”

“You sure about that?” Tanner had moved to the foot of the bed. He was watching her with that half-worried, half-sympathetic gaze that was making her feel increasingly antsy.

“You seemed to . . . want to be away from him when you saw him last.” Now that bit came from the demon doctor.

“I was out of my head then.” The doctor reached for the bandages that began near her shoulder. “I want Az,” Jade said again.

His fingers brushed the tip of the bandages. “Lay back down and let me check your wounds. Once I’m sure you’re healing well, I’ll call him in.”

Tanner offered her a faint half-smile. “Cody’s afraid you’re gonna freak out again and mess up all his fine handiwork.”

She slid back down on the bed. “Check me out, then get me Az.” She needed him.

When Cody got to work slowly pulling back the bandages, she stared up at the ceiling. Faint cracks crisscrossed the white paint above her, and she focused her gaze on them. The sick feeling in her gut told her that she’d have scars on her chest that looked just like those cracks. Long, jagged.

A light touch of air hit her skin when the demon pulled back the bandages.

“How . . .” Surprise roughed the word even as the doctor leaned closer to her.
“I’ll be damned.”

She’d been avoiding looking at her wounds but now . . . Jade risked a fast glance down, but only saw the doctor reaching for scissors. Tweezers.

Her gaze immediately jumped back to the ceiling.

After a moment, she felt a light tugging on her chest. Then he pulled something out—stitches? She had to look like Frankenstein’s monster, and she knew it was weak, but Jade didn’t want to see those wounds right then. Give her a few more hours, and she’d woman-up and do the deed but right then . . .

“You’re healed.”

Lie.
But . . . her eyes darted down to the ravaged flesh that she hadn’t wanted to see. Only it wasn’t marred. Not so much as scratched. Pale as ever, smooth. No sign of the deep cuts that had torn through flesh and muscle.

“Az!”
She screamed his name because in that moment, she was terrified of what she’d become.

The door flew open and slammed back against the wall. Az stood in the entranceway, filling the space. His hands were clenched. His eyes blazing. “Get away from her!” He roared. And in the next second, he’d leapt across the room. Az grabbed the demon by the back of the neck and hurtled him against the wall.

Jade realized she was naked from the waist down. She yanked up the sheet and ended the peep show.

“Easy!” Tanner lifted his hands when Az rounded on him. “We weren’t hurting her.”

“I was . . . just . . .” The demon rose and winced. “I was merely checking her out.”

“I saw that.” A lethal edge underscored Az’s words. He spun to face the doctor, giving Jade his back, and that was when she actually paid attention enough to notice his wings.

Not real wings. More like shadows. Thick, black, they rose from his bare shoulders and extended high above him.

They were dark and so beautiful.

“She was scared,” Az snarled as he closed in on the demon. “I heard her fear.” His hands were clenched into powerful fists.

Uh, oh. Jade kept a hold on her sheet as she hopped out of bed. Her knees didn’t so much as jiggle when her feet touched down on the wooden floor. That angel blood sure packed a powerful punch.

“Because she realized—we
both
realized—” Cody spoke quickly now as he pressed his back against the wall in an attempt to put more distance between him and Az. “We realized that she’s healed.”

Jade crept up behind Az. Tanner didn’t move. She reached out and her fingers skimmed over those shadowy wings. She could almost feel them against her skin. Like silk.

Az stiffened. He’d loved it when she stroked his scars before. What effect would it have on him when she touched these shadowy remnants of his wings?

“Jade . . .” Her name was a rasp, heavy with need, lust.

She stroked the shadows once more.

This time, he shuddered.

“She’s healed,” Cody said again. “And—”

Az turned to face her. His jaw was locked, and his eyes still burned hot enough to scorch her. And the man looked like he could eat her.

Oh, my.

“I think it’s time for us to get out of here.” Tanner hurried over and grabbed Cody’s arm. “They need to . . . talk.”

“Talk? I don’t think talking is what—”

Tanner knocked his brother’s head into the wall then hustled him out of the room.

The shifter made sure to slam the door closed behind him.

Az’s wings were out of her reach now, but she wanted to touch them again. “I can see them,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Nothing’s there. The wings burned away when I fell.”

Maybe. But those shadows were still there. She stepped closer to him. Jade kept one hand on the sheet that she’d hurriedly wrapped around her body while her left hand lifted and touched those shadows. “What does it feel like when I touch them?” Jade whispered.

“They
aren’t
there.”

Something was. Her fingers went right through the silken remnants.

He stepped back and put enough distance between them so that she couldn’t touch his wings. Then he caught her hand and held tight. “You’re seeing what was,” he gritted. “My blood’s in you. Only those with an angel’s blood can—”

“Thank you,” her soft words cut him off.

He blinked. Shook his head.

“You saved me.” That she knew with certainty.

BOOK: Angel in Chains

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