Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(88)

Something whispered in the darkness, a soft rustle of sound. Wind seemed to brush over his face. He stared into the shadows around him, aware that his heart had started to thud too fast.

“I can’t get back to you.” Now her hands were on his face. Her fingers trailed down his cheek, over her jaw. As if memorizing him. “I don’t want to forget.”

“You won’t.” A vow. “I won’t.”

But she was fading. Her lips pressed against his once more. He tasted her breath. Life. Love.

Seline.

She vanished. The fire came back. The pain. The torture. But he wouldn’t forget. His Seline had come to him.

And she’d had black angel wings.

She hadn’t been dragged to hell. His angel had been sent to heaven.

He fought through the fire in his nightmares and opened his eyes. He glared at the cracking ceiling above him. “You aren’t taking her!”

Sam knew he didn’t have to fight his way through hell to get Seline back. But he would have to knock down the gates of paradise.





If you wanted to see an angel, sometimes you had to raise a little hell. Sam stood in the middle of the crowded street, his gaze on the dark sky above him. Power crackled in the air around him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Az’s voice. Very slowly, Sam turned his head to the right. He’d dumped Az in a motel three days before. He hadn’t wanted to deal with him. Killing him . . . well, shit, Az had tried to sacrifice himself so that Sam would be protected. Killing him after that just hadn’t seemed fair. So he’d let the bastard walk away with his head still attached to his body.

Only it seemed Az was walking back to him now. The guy must have a death wish.

Sam sure did. Gotta be a family trait.

Sam smiled and knew the grin would flash with evil. “I’m about to call down some angels.”

Az blinked. “Uh, you sure that’s the best plan you’ve got?”

This was a much darker part of Mexico. The men and women filling the cantinas on this beaten street weren’t human. Shifters. Demons. Some good, some in-between, some so vicious he could feel their taint in the air. “It’s the only one I’ve got.”

Az frowned back at him. “Look, I’m sorry about the girl, but she’s dead. Sacrificing yourself won’t bring her back.”

A gust of Sam’s power slammed into his brother and knocked him back a good ten feet. Bones popped when Az landed.

“She’s not dead.” Sam pointed to the sky and glared at the heavens. “She’s just . . . there.”

Az rose slowly. He snapped his shoulder back in place and adjusted his broken wrist. “You’ve finally gone crazy, haven’t you?” Said with a bit of sadness. “I always thought the day would come.”

“Maybe I have. Doesn’t matter.” He pulled back his hand and let a line of fire race down the street. Voices rose. Shrieks filled the air. “I’m about to make a fire so bright that heaven has to see it.”

Screams filled the air. The Other scattered as they raced away from the flames.

But he just poured out more power. More. He wouldn’t stop. The world didn’t realize just how dangerous he could be. Time to show them.

Bring her back.

Or he’d destroy everything, and, perhaps everyone.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN



Sam hit the dirt when he was tackled from behind. He spun around and tossed his * brother aside. This time, Az landed on his feet, and his bones stayed in place, mostly.

“You can’t kill them!” Az shouted.

Sam’s brows rose. “Since when do you care?”

“Since I fell!” Az ran a hand through his hair. “This isn’t right! Dammit, you can’t!”

The fire hadn’t touched anyone. Not yet.

“He can,” another voice said, this one strong and deep and coming from the shadows near him, “but he won’t.”

An oh-shit expression crossed Az’s face, and Sam knew his brother recognized that voice, too.

It was a voice most heard in their nightmares because this angel, he wasn’t there to comfort you. Not to give you a message. Not to guard you or protect you from the monsters in the world.

Uriel was the leader of the punishment angels. If the stories were true, he’d once been at the right hand of God, but a few centuries back, he’d been put in charge of the darker angels. He came after only the worst of the worst, and his punishments had been known to make the devil weep with envy.

His wings curled behind him as Uriel stepped from the darkness. He stared at Sam, and he shook his head. “Sammael, call back your fire.”

The fire whipped through the streets, snaking long and hard, rising high, so high. It hadn’t touched the flesh of anyone, but it could; all it would take was one thought and they’d ignite.

“Is this what she would want you to do?” Uriel asked.

In an instant, Sam had the bastard by his black T-shirt. And since when did Uriel wear a torn T-shirt and jeans? “You’ve seen her?”

Uriel nodded. “She’s one of mine.”

“No,” Sam snarled, choking on rage. “She’s mine.”

Az closed in on them. “Are you serious? Seline’s an . . . angel?”