Angel of Darkness (The Fallen #1)(38)

“The big guy with eyes the same blue as yours. He had black hair and black clothes to match because he’s all goth.”

“Sam.”

“Yeah, that’s what he said—”

He lifted her onto her toes. His gaze bored into hers. “What did he say to you?”

“Ease up on the grip!”

He immediately eased his hold but didn’t let her go. Sam had gone after her. “He could’ve killed you.”

“Why does everyone seem to think I’m so easy to kill? I’m still here, still walking around, I’m—”

“For someone like Sam, you are easy to kill.” But then, most people were—humans and Other.

She shook her head. “That guy was bullshitting. He was a demon who wanted to mess with my head.”

“Sam isn’t a demon.”

Her eyes widened. “Then what is he?”

“He’s like me.”

“Fallen.”

Not a question, but he nodded anyway. “Only Sam has been walking this earth for a whole lot longer than you can ever imagine.” His fingers were stroking her skin. Reflex. “And he’s stronger, so much stronger, than any level-ten demon living now.”

“And why’s he coming after me?” That was fear making her voice rise and break.

He clenched his teeth. “Because of me.”

Her breath caught. “He said ... I thought he was lying but he said you fell—”

Damn him.

“For me.”

A big rig pulled into the lot with its tires rolling and its brakes groaning. Keenan pushed Nicole back, moving quickly, and in seconds they were up against the side of the building. Not the best place, but at least they had cover in case any trouble came looking for them.

“Is it true?” Nicole wanted to know, her voice dipping to rub right over his skin. “Am I the reason you fell?”

“No.” Not a lie. “I fell ... because of what I did.”

“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.

Nicole pulled her hands away. “He seemed so sure it was because of me.”

Keenan had perfect vision—day or night—and he could see the way her gaze flickered away from his as if she were embarrassed.

“But you were my—my guardian,” she said, “so I just figured—”

“I wasn’t your guardian angel.” Time for more truth. No, this moment, he’d tell her everything because she deserved no less.

A door slammed. He glanced to the left. The trucker was heading inside the stop. Keenan waited for him to leave the lot.

Then ...

“There are a lot of angels. So many different kinds. More than even the theologians realize.” Thousands. All with different jobs and duties.

“Some guard,” he admitted. The stories had that part right. “Others punish.”

Her chin lifted a bit at that.

“Some kill.”

She blinked.

“That night, in that alley ...” He forced himself to take a step back. “You were supposed to die.”

“I did—”

“No.” A rough laugh broke from him. “You were supposed to die. Not to wake as a vampire. The vamp was supposed to drain you, to rip your throat out, and to leave your broken body in the alley.”

“Don’t worry about sugarcoating,” she muttered, and he saw her flinch. “I can get the visual on my own.”

His fingers slipped down her cheek. “I couldn’t let it happen. I ... hesitated.”

She stilled at his touch. “You were there to kill me.”

“I was there to take your soul to the next life.” He glanced down at his hand. “One touch. That’s all it would have taken. That’s all it ever took. One touch and death came.”

Now she reached for him and curled her fingers tight around his hand.

“Instead of touching you,” he said, voice hardening, “I touched him.”

“Keenan ...”

“I broke the rules. I took a life that wasn’t mine to claim. I disobeyed, and they tossed my ass into hell.”

“Hell?” Her nails bit into his skin. “Oh, Keenan ...”

“My wings were burned away when I fell. Fire blazed through my whole body, and when I hit, when I finally landed ...” he rasped out a breath and let his gaze scan the lot before coming back to her. “I didn’t even know who I was. What I was. I woke up, in the middle of an empty field, the earth scorched around me, and when a farmer ran to help me ... I just knew that I-I shouldn’t touch him.”

One touch had always meant death.

She didn’t speak. Nicole just watched him in the darkness, and he knew she saw too much with her vampire eyes. “After heaven, trust me, this ... it was hell to me.” The emotions. The pain. The hunger. The thirst. The need. He hadn’t understood any of them. He’d been lashed with agony, again and again, and hadn’t realized why.

Because when he’d first woken, he’d known nothing but pain and rage.

Until he’d slowly started to remember ... her.

Heaven.

Hell.

Falling.

“It took a little while, but I finally remembered.” Not everything. There was some time lost between his fall and the moment he’d woken up in that field. When he tried to recall those days, he heard the whispers of fire and the echoes of screams.