Angel of Darkness (The Fallen #1)(35)

Keenan kept walking. He’d get on the bike and— “No answer. That means you can’t answer because you can’t tell a lie.”

And Sam was in front of him. Just like that, as fast as a blink. “You didn’t have to fall,” Sam said, “in order to get a piece of ass.”

Keenan went for his throat.

But he touched nothing. Sam had already moved. Already shot five feet away.

“Got to be faster than that,” Sam taunted.

Keenan launched forward.

Sam’s fist slammed into his chest, a hit right above his heart, and this time, Keenan stumbled back.

“You’ve got to be faster,” Sam repeated, voice rumbling. “And stronger.” Then it was Sam’s turn to spin away. “When you’re ready for some real power, come find me.”

What?

Sam glanced back over his shoulder. “They never let souls escape. You should know that. You do know that. I’m betting that’s why you high-tailed it after your piece of ass once you regained your sanity.”

Sanity.

Keenan’s fingers began to smoke as the fire of his fury burned through him.

“Ah ... got the firepower now, do you? That’s a good step. But you’ll need more than fire to keep your vamp alive.” He gave a little salute. “When you want to play, find me.”

“You f*cking *, where is—”

“Now is that any way for an angel to talk?”

His back teeth clenched. “I’m not an angel anymore.”

The sunglasses tossed back his stark reflection. “No. You’re not.” Sam pointed at Keenan. “But you’ve still got the power of an angel in there. Just waiting to come out. And you’re gonna be wanting that magic and power back.”

One touch to kill. His breath heaved out. No, he didn’t want that back. “You didn’t see Nicole.”

Sam’s shoulders rolled. “I’ll give you a free one this time. Because, well ... you don’t have much time. Or rather, she doesn’t.”

Humans were close by. He could almost feel their eyes. It was all he could do to pull the rage back and control the fire that wanted to shoot from him.

“The last time I saw your lady, she was on the ground. Jerking. Her eyes were rolling back into her head.”

“What did you do to her?” He’d rip Sammael apart and send the Fallen back to hell for keeps this time.

“Not me.” Sam shook his head. “The good guys have her, and since your girl ain’t exactly good ... don’t expect her to survive until sunset.”

What?

But Sam was gone. Vanished. Only his scent remained. Not the light, flowery scent of an angel.

Brimstone. The scent of hell.





She woke up in a cage. Nicole opened her eyes, jumped up, and found herself trapped in a ten-by-twelve-foot jail cell.

Just freaking perfect.

She ran forward and grabbed the bars. “Hello!”

The place seemed deserted. It looked like some kind of holding cell, and she was the only one being held.

Uh oh.

“Hey!” She shouted. A cop had to be around someplace. “You can’t do this! You can’t just taze a woman on the street and—”

Metal groaned as a door opened. She sucked in a breath and stopped talking. A cop was coming toward her. Not the one who’d Tased her. A woman this time. She looked to be in her early thirties. The cop had short black hair and glaring brown eyes.

“You’re not just any woman, Ms. St. James,” she said, Texas drawling beneath her words. “You’re a wanted felon. A criminal who nearly killed a police officer.”

Nicole’s fingers tightened around the bars. “That was ... I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

The door clanged shut behind the cop. “Of course. You were just hungry, right?”

Nicole stepped away from the bars.

“Hungry, and Officer Greg Hatten looked like the perfect snack.”

“You ... know what I am.”

A slow nod. The woman—her ID read Jennifer Connelly—pulled out her service weapon. “I know what you are, and I know how to kill you.”

She couldn’t break through the bars, not while the sun was still up. The lethargy coursing through her body told her that the sun was most definitely up. “Then why am I still alive? If you want me dead—”

A black brow rose. “You already are dead.”

People just had to throw that up to her. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want to be a vamp, I didn’t mean to hurt that cop—”

“Save the sob story.”

Nicole blinked.

“Let me guess ...” the cop continued with a smirk. “If you had it to do all over again, you’d go back to being human, right?”

Not exactly. Being human meant being dead.

But Connelly didn’t give her a chance to answer. She said, “Whatever. Here’s the deal. I’m gonna open your cage. You’re gonna try to get out.”

Yes, that was a good plan. Because staying trapped in there wasn’t an option.

Connelly lifted her gun. “You’re gonna come at me, and I’m gonna shoot you.”

Nicole’s breath whispered out. Not such a good plan.