Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(32)

She’d seen plenty of tortures in her time, and they’d always made her . . . sick.

The other angels hadn’t seemed to care what they saw. They’d witnessed carnage. Hell on earth. Heard screams and pleas.

They’d been unaffected.

She hadn’t.

“Bastion, please, I don’t want to do this.” Her broken confession from so long ago. He’d been the only one she told. She’d turned to him because she’d thought he could help her. He’d been higher in the angel rankings. So powerful.

But there’d been nothing he could do.

“What, Marna? Do you want to fall?” He’d shaken his dark head. “Life down there, for us, it’s agony. You would never survive being earthbound.”

Her hands fisted.

They were snaking through the back streets now. Tanner had lowered his window.

The better to catch the vamp’s scent?

Shifters and their noses.

“What was Bastion to you?”

Marna blinked, surprised by the question—and the deadly intensity that had entered Tanner’s voice.

“He meant something, I could tell.” He wasn’t looking at her. “I couldn’t see the bastard, but I smelled him.” A muscle jerked in his jaw. “And I recognized that scent. That one, he came to Cody’s when you were hurt.”

Yes, Bastion had come to her during those terrible days. He’d promised to help her.

But what could he do? He still had heaven.

She had hell.

“Bastion.” She sighed when she said his name. Was she sad about what she’d lost? Or sad that her friend had seemed pained just to look at her?

“You . . . care for him.”

“Yes.” Another fault. Angels didn’t form attachments, but she had. Humans could love. Why couldn’t angels? “He tried to watch out for me.” How many times had he covered for her? When she’d been afraid? Weak?

“And now he’s following you.”

That had her shaking her head, then realizing he couldn’t see the move. “No, he was just there—” Because you killed a vampire. Ripped his throat wide open. Um, better not to think too long about that particular visual. Her stomach was already clenching. “He was just there to ferry a soul.”

“And the other times?”

Now she was lost. “What other times?”

“I’ve caught his scent before. At my house. In that bar last night. He’s been watching you.”

Tanner was wrong. “I didn’t see him.” And she would have. She could always see her own kind, even without her wings.

“Maybe he didn’t want you to see him.” He parked the SUV on the side of the road, near a line of broken down buildings that hadn’t recovered after the storm. “Maybe he just wants to see you.” There was an edge in Tanner’s voice that had her tensing. Then he glanced at her, cutting her with his bright stare, and said, “The same way I did.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” The sun was rising, sending streaks of pink and gray across the sky.

“I had to watch you, too. You didn’t know. You never know when danger is close.”

He’d been watching her? “Why?” Her nails dug into the leather seat.

“Someone had to make sure you were safe.” He turned away. Climbed from the vehicle.

She hurried out and rushed to confront him. “Making sure I was safe?” Marna shook her head and stabbed her finger into his chest. “Or making sure I wasn’t killing?” She knew how the guy’s mind worked. He was a shifter, a paranormal, but a cop, too. He’d been staking her out, just like he did the other criminals he hunted.

One shoulder lifted in a shrug as Tanner admitted, “Maybe a little of both.”

Right. Figured. She turned away and rubbed her arms. Her gaze raked over the dark lines of buildings that rose into the sky. So many boarded-up windows and doors. Giant KEEP OUT signs. Yes, this place was a vampire paradise if she’d ever seen one.

“Or maybe,” Tanner’s voice drawled, “maybe I just wanted to make sure you weren’t f*cking anyone.”

Her jaw dropped. She snapped it closed and whirled on him. “What I do isn’t—”

He put a finger to his lips. “He’s close.”

Her eyes narrowed. He was just trying to— “There.” He pointed to the second building. Tanner’s nostrils flared. “I can smell him.”

She could only smell the scent of decay and garbage. Not exactly pleasant.

Tanner marched toward the building. He grabbed the heavy wood in front of the door and yanked.

It broke away like a twig snapping. Sometimes, she forgot just how strong the panther was.

He shoved open the door with a push of his hand, splintering any lock that might have been there. “So much for going in quietly,” she muttered.

But Tanner was already lunging forward, racing into the dark interior, and she scrambled to keep up with him.

Hurry. Hurry.

Tanner didn’t waste time. Just ran straight for a door on the left side of the building. He kicked it open, and when Riley lunged for him with a silver blade, Tanner just laughed.

Marna lifted her hands, ready to send fire racing toward the vamp, only . . . nothing happened.