Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(50)

He stared back at her, face determined. “I’m not going far, and I don’t want you out in the open while I hunt.”

Still, bad. “But I don’t want to be a sitting duck!” Az was after her. What if he decided to pop back in while Sam was gone? He’d already used that separate-and-attack technique before. She didn’t want to give him another shot at her.

Sam jerked his thumb toward the demons. “They’ll watch your back.”

Like she trusted them. Never trust a demon you don’t know—her motto. And even then . . . be careful. Since she had demon blood, she knew just how tricky her so-called brothers and sisters could be. “I want to come with you. I can—”

“You’ll slow me down.”

Blunt and pretty brutal. She managed not to flinch, but she was pretty sure her cheeks heated. “I’m not without power, you know.”

“But you can’t come close to fighting the ones hunting out there.”

Did any more of her pride need a hit? Maybe he should just call her useless. Sure, her demon power scale might not be the best, but she could fight in other ways. Like she hadn’t spent years fighting Other.

Was inept written on her forehead?

He released her hand. “I have to go. Tomas could be out there, hurt, and I need to find him.”

Right. She had to suck it up and deal with the situation. Put on your big-girl panties. “Go. I-I don’t want to slow you down. Help him.”

His eyes narrowed a bit, but then his attention shifted away from her as he pointed at the demons. “Guard her with your damn lives—or else I’ll make sure you lose them.”

Black eyes wide, they nodded quickly.

Then he was gone.

Seline rubbed her palms on her jean-clad thighs. One demon immediately took up a position near the door. Seline eyed the guy. Please. She could take him. No kind of protection there. But at least there were three of them in the room. Three against . . . well, whatever might come.

She spun around and let her gaze sweep the room once more. Maybe she’d find a weapon, or some kind of clue. Something.

Her shoes padded over the deep claw marks.





Sam didn’t hunt. Or, rather, he didn’t leave the motel so that he could go racing across the town after Tomas.

He hadn’t lied to Seline, not really. Even Fallen could never truly lie. He’d felt the slight shift in the air that told him a guardian had passed by, but he had no idea where that guardian was now. The trail didn’t work like that.

Usually, the only way to tell if an angel was close . . . you had to smell them. Those who hadn’t plummeted and burned smelled like damn roses. You could always smell ’em before you saw ’em.

But Tomas didn’t carry that scent any longer, and Sam wasn’t sure where the guy was or even if Tomas was still living.

The threat was close, he knew that. Tomas might have escaped. He hoped the guy had. But either way, it was time to spring his trap.

So he walked away from Seline. He left her open and vulnerable in that unsecured motel room because he knew Mateo had spoken the truth about what he saw. The witch couldn’t lie about the visions that came from his scrying mirror.

Az was fixated on Seline, for whatever reason. Sam wasn’t the type to spend his days running, so he wasn’t going to grab Seline and race away with her.

His jaw clenched as he waited in the shadows and watched that motel.

He wasn’t running, but, dammit, he was going to use Seline as bait . . . because he had what his brother wanted.

So f*cking come and get her, Az.

The bait couldn’t be more tempting. Now he just had to wait for his bastard brother to make his move.

Then I’ve got you. And any shifter that had been dumb enough to pair up with his brother in the blood bath.

A twig snapped behind him. Sam smiled . . . trying to sneak up on me?

That wasn’t going to—





Seline heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. She was on her knees near the bed. A Bible lay on the floor. An old, worn Bible that looked as if it had been read many times. Her fingers hovered over it as the rumble faded.

Then the attack came.

The male demon flew through the air and thudded into the wall on the right. Seline jumped to her feet as the woman—Rosa—screamed.

And fled.

Seriously? She fled?

Can’t trust a demon.

Rosa jumped out of the window and hauled ass. But when Seline got a good look at the man in the broken doorway—tall, blond, strong, and with the shadowy image of black wings stretching from his body—she thought about running, too.

But in the next instant, Az was in front of her, and Seline knew that she wasn’t getting away.

Okay, Sam. Now’s the time for you to haul that sorry hide of yours out here.

Because she knew a setup when she was shoved into one. She wasn’t stupid, and she’d gotten pretty good at reading a Fallen’s twisted truth.

She threw up her hands and sent a burst of power right at Az. “Don’t touch me!”

Her power slammed into him, and he stumbled back. Right. Take that. She truly wasn’t weak. If folks wanted to be dumb and think she was . . . their funeral.

She blasted him again. Again. He retreated a few clumsy steps. A furrow appeared between his brows, and his arm lifted.