Angel in Chains (The Fallen #3)(42)

Footsteps thudded behind him. “Az!” Tanner’s shout. “We need that blood, now! She’s—she’s—”

Bastion inhaled a deep breath. “Her heart is stopping. The doctor can’t help her.”

“Now!” Tanner yelled.

Tanner wouldn’t see the angel. Only those with angel’s blood in them could ever see the angels. Those with the blood . . . or those near death. When it came time for Death to take you, the dying could always see the angels at their sides.

“I can help her.” Az lifted the gun. His finger curled around the trigger. “Get out of here, Bastion. You’re not taking her tonight.”

“Uh . . . Az?” Tanner’s confused voice. Bastion didn’t move. “And you’re not in charge anymore.”

“No, but I’m the man holding the bullet made of brimstone—and I’m the one who’ll shoot you with it if you don’t fly your ass out of here.”

Bastion blinked. “B-brimstone?”

Az knew fear when he heard it.

“It’s not a weapon of man. More a weapon of the devil.” The gun didn’t waver. “I can personally attest, these bullets burn. And when they’re fired into an angel’s heart, I’m laying odds that they will kill.” He lifted a brow. “Shall we find out?”

Bastion backed up a step. “I want Marna.”

“Then go and find her. Just stay away from Jade. She’s not dying for me.”

Bastion’s wings unfurled. He stared hard at Az, then glanced up at the sky. One moment passed, two . . .

“Az . . .” Tanner grabbed his shoulder. “Stop talking to your damn self and—”

“She’s not the innocent you think.” Bastion took another step back. Retreating. “You think you’re saving a weak human, but she’s not what you believe her to be.”

“She’s exactly what I believe her to be.”

“A killer?”

Az didn’t let his surprise show.

“Because she has killed, and not just once.” Bastion raised his arms before him. “Would you really battle with your own kind in order to protect the soul of a killer?”

She took the blow meant for me. “You don’t want to test me right now, Bastion.”

But the angel wasn’t backing down. “You’ve already failed every test. That’s why your wings burned to ash.”

Bastard. “And it’s why you’re about to have a heart full of brimstone.”

“I hope to God you’re really talking to someone,” Tanner snapped. “Because I just can’t deal with another crazy * right now.”

Bastion’s eyes narrowed. “She dies now!”

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.