Angel of Darkness (The Fallen #1)(73)

Carlos was shifting.

Fur sprang up over his flesh. Thick, brown fur. His hands had already turned into paws, his claws had lengthened, sharpening even more. His face contorted as she watched. Stretched. Elongated. Animal, not man.

An animal with really big teeth—and she knew all about big teeth.

I missed his heart.

Oh, damn.

He was a shifter. He didn’t need blood to heal and kick ass. He just needed to transform.

“Run,” Nicole whispered and then she whirled around to face Keenan as she shouted, “Run!”

Too late. Keenan was almost on her. He reached out to her, but then froze, his fingers inches away. She stumbled for him. “You’ve got to get—”

A coyote’s high, quavering howl broke the air.

Then that guy, Sam, he was there. Sam yanked her into his arms and pulled her away from Keenan. “Oh, what the hell?” He huffed out a hard breath. “Now the dogs are in this?”

Not a dog. A coyote. A very big, very pissed-off coyote with bloodlust burning in his glowing eyes. “It’s a trap,” she whispered. “He’s after Keenan. We can’t let him get ...”

“The sonofabitch figured it out.” Sam shoved her behind him. She caught a glimpse of the coyote. Way bigger than your average coyote. The beast lunged into the air and leapt right for Keenan.

No!

But Sam was there. Moving with his super speed, he jumped in front of Keenan.

The coyote gave a choked bark and twisted in midair. The beast landed on the top of a shallow crypt.

“Didn’t count on two of us, did you?” Keenan snarled.

Then another coyote’s wailing cry echoed in the cemetery. Another, another ...

If coyotes could smile, she knew that beast would be grinning.

Her head whipped to the right. She saw a black coyote stalking along the high stone wall. The coyote had its eyes locked on Keenan’s back.

“Keenan, watch out!”

But her scream came too late. The coyote jumped from the wall and lunged for Keenan. The beast’s mouth—wide with sharp teeth and dripping with saliva—went for Keenan’s throat.

But Keenan shoved his forearm into the coyote’s mouth. The beast stiffened. Its whole body froze and as Nicole watched, the fur began to melt away.

A rolling, mourning cry rumbled in Carlos’s throat, but he didn’t close in on Keenan. No, the coyote jumped back and fled toward the high walls.

And as for the black coyote that had attacked Keenan ... it wasn’t a coyote anymore. The fur was gone, the bones still reshaping, but now ... yes, now that was a woman.

A dead woman.

Keenan rose and stared down at her body.

The cries from the coyotes became softer. They were all leaving. Retreating.

“Running away?” Sam taunted, voice dark and strong. “Didn’t plan for that, did you, bastards? We’re not as easy to kill as you thought. You want our blood? Then you’ll die for it.”

Nicole crept closer to Keenan. He was still staring down at the woman. The wind lifted the woman’s dark hair and blew it against her golden cheeks. Her eyes were open, staring with horror, and her lips were parted as if to scream.

Keenan’s gaze shifted to his arm. Faint bite marks were already fading from his flesh.

“Keenan ...” Nicole reached for him, but he pulled away. She took that snub, right in the heart. He’d killed—because of her. And now maybe he was finally seeing just what she was.

His jaw clenched. His gaze rose slowly to meet hers. “Are you ... okay?”

She put her hands behind her back. “Fine.”

Keenan’s head moved in a jerky nod. “Coming back to New Orleans was a mistake.”

She’d tried to tell him that. Coming home again really wasn’t a good idea. No matter what the damn songs out there said.

“You need to get out of here as fast as you can,” Keenan told her, but he wasn’t looking directly at her. Just over her shoulder. “I’ll take care of the coyotes. You just ... run.”

Nicole shook her head. “No way, I’m not leaving you to—”

“I want you to go.” His gaze came back to her when he delivered that knife to her heart.

She realized he hadn’t even touched her. Hadn’t hugged her. Hadn’t pulled her against his chest. She wanted him to. Needed him to pull her close.

Instead, he was backing away.

He knows what I am now.

She glanced at the still-unconscious college goth guy. “I didn’t kill him.”

“No, but I sure killed her.”

A beautiful stranger. A woman as still as stone now.

“Who do you think came for her?” Sam asked, closing in and crouching next to the naked woman.

The coyotes had left the dead female fast enough. Deserted one of their own.

“There are so many flowers out here ...” Sam glanced at the vaults. “We never even would’ve smelled them coming.”

But she’d scented an angel earlier. She’d known Az was there.

He’s losing himself in you.

Keenan couldn’t even look at her longer than a few moments now.

“Take Nicole out of here,” Keenan said, turning his back on them. “Get her to someplace safe and just take Nicole out of here.”