Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(42)

Seline tried not to let him see her relief. She could probably handle this. She could usually handle just about anything.

Usually.

“I’m not looking for your past,” he told her. “The past is over. It doesn’t matter.”

Bull. The past made the monsters of today and tomorrow.

Sam’s eyes seemed to see too much. “I need to know the future, for both of our sakes.”

Oh, no, no, he’d better not mean . . .

Sam pulled away from her. He opened the door. Seline wasn’t sure what she expected, but it sure wasn’t the tall, tattooed guy with the devilish grin.

Not a demon. Then . . . what?

He wore all black, and the guy glided easily into the room. His shaved head inclined toward Sam. There were tribal tattoos sliding over his scalp. He asked, voice rumbling, “Is she the one?”

Crap. The one what?

“Sí, Mateo. I need to see what will happen with her.”

Sam crossed his arms. The guy, Mateo, pulled out a knife.

Then he came at her with that knife.

Oh, hell, no.





CHAPTER NINE



When Seline looked like she’d take a swing at Mateo, Sam lunged forward. He grabbed her right wrist, then her left, and held her tight.

She glared up at him. “You are making one huge mistake here.”

No, he was just doing what he had to do. He’d been misled by an innocent face before. Once upon a time, he’d even thought he was in love, then the human had found out exactly what he was. Even genteel ladies in 1880 could have a very dark side. Helena had drugged him with laudanum, then lit him on fire while he slept. The fire had burned through his skin. The drug had dulled his power so he couldn’t control the flames. He’d just burned, for hours . . .

When Helena saw that he wasn’t dying, she’d brought in every man she could find from town. The good preacher had called him a devil, and the men had stabbed him. His muscles had been slashed, bones hacked . . . and he’d still lived.

Torture could come in many forms.

When the drug finally wore off, he’d shown them just how much of a devil he could be.

Helena hadn’t been the first, or the last, human to betray him, but these days, he was far more careful.

“Keep that guy and his knife away from me!” Seline said, voice rising.

Not possible. “He needs your blood.”

Her eyes widened. “Vampire?” A whisper, one he was sure Mateo heard.

Sam shook his head. “Witch.”

She paled even more. Apparently she knew that witches could be far more dangerous than vamps. Good for her.

He glanced over his shoulder but kept his hold on Seline’s delicate wrists. Mateo had placed his scrying mirror on the floor. Its black surface gleamed up at them. The witch chanted softly.

It wasn’t easy for a witch to look into the future. Many considered it forbidden.

Good thing Sam and Mateo didn’t fall into that “forbidden” category.

“Give me the knife,” he told Mateo.

Mateo glanced up at him. “You always did like to get your hands dirty.”

Seline kicked Sam in the shin. “I don’t know what you think is about to happen here—”

Mateo rose and closed the distance between them. “I’m going to take a few drops of your blood. Then I’m going to get a little glimpse of the future.” Said flatly and with only the faintest hint of his Spanish accent. The guy sounded like he cut women all the time and peered into their futures—because that was exactly what he did.

Just another ordinary night for him.

“One glimpse will show us just where your allegiance lies,” Sam said because that part was what mattered. The body count was rising. Az and Rogziel would be closing in soon. Not just one threat—two. When the end came, could he trust her to have his back? Or would she serve him up to his enemies so that she could save herself?

Been there, done that.

“You expect me to bleed for you?” she demanded, voice sharp.

Yes.

Her eyes slit. “Then you will damn well bleed for me, too.”

Now he hesitated.

“Uh, boss?” Mateo muttered. “I don’t know about taking your—”

“You bleed,” she said, baring her teeth in a wicked grin. “I bleed. You want to know what my future holds? Well, I want to know what’s gonna happen with you. I want to make sure when the cards are down that you don’t turn on me, too.”

So trust was truly a lie for them both.

He released her and stepped back. “Fine, but ladies first.”

She glared at him. But, after a slight hesitation, she brushed by him and took the knife from Mateo. Mateo touched her lightly on the shoulder, and Sam saw the witch inhale a sharp breath. Mateo’s eyes met his.

Succubus. Mateo mouthed the words and grimaced.

Mateo had been burned, quite literally, by a succubus once upon a time.

“How does this work?” The knife glinted in Seline’s hand.

Mateo cleared his throat. “I just need a few drops of your blood. Stand over the mirror and let them fall onto the glass.”

Seline gave a grim nod. She braced her legs apart and stood just over the mirror. Mateo crouched near the glass and whispered the last of his spell.