Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(34)

No, you weren’t.

“Maybe she just couldn’t see the wings,” Tanner said, frowning as he glanced back at Marna. “Not all demons—”

But Riley shook his head. “Cadence was a pureblood. She had enormous power. Hell, that’s why she was so screwed up in the head. She couldn’t control the voices that whispered to her. Voices that always told her what was coming.” Riley pointed at Marna. “She saw your wings the instant you walked into Hell. I was at the bar with her. How did you think I realized that you were so fast?”

Marna rolled her shoulders and felt the phantom pull of wings that were gone. She couldn’t see any shadows when she looked over her shoulder. You weren’t allowed to see what you’d lost. That was one of the rules.

Punishments.

But she’d seen the shadowy images on other Fallen. On Sammael.

So if a Fallen wasn’t doing the killing, then who was? And how?

“That’s all I know.” Riley tipped back his head and offered his throat. “So, now, do it. Put me out of this sick-ass misery of an existence.”

Marna tensed. “Tanner . . .”

But he shook his head and turned away from the vamp. “Despite what you think, I’m a cop, not just a killer. And I’m not executing an unarmed man, vamp or not.” He offered his hand to Marna. “Let’s go.”

She couldn’t walk away.

And Riley didn’t give her the chance.

“I’m not unarmed.” His hand had disappeared under the mattress, and, in a blink, he yanked out a gun. Only he didn’t aim it at Tanner.

At me.

“Dumbass move,” Tanner snapped as he spun back to face the vampire. “Bullets won’t kill her.”

“Brimstone bullets will.” Now the vampire’s smile was just sad. Tired. “I’ve done my research. I heard about the shit that went down in this city, just a few months back.”

When Azrael had battled Brandt. Because Brandt had been a hybrid—the product of a rare mating between a shifter and an angel—it had taken a lot to kill him.

Bullets made of brimstone, bullets formed from a hellhound’s claws, could kill any angel, no matter how old or strong. Brandt had learned that lesson. He’d tried to use those bullets against others of his kind, but in the end, he’d been the one to die.

She stared at the barrel of the gun. “I’m sorry.”

“Fuck this—” Tanner began.

“I was the one who took your wife,” she said, cutting through Tanner’s words and taking a step toward the vampire. He deserved to hear the truth. “That night, so long ago, it was me.”

The gun barrel shook. His hand tightened. “You bitch.”

“Once I took her, Victoria didn’t hurt anymore.”

“My Victoria—”

“But I had to leave you behind.” The words were hollow. No, she was hollow. Why hadn’t she rebelled then? Tried to save this man, before he’d become a monster?

What he was . . . all the things he’d done . . . could she have stopped this?

“They fed on me, for hours—”

This part hurt to confess. “I was gone by then.” The memory of his screams had chased her as she flew away. No wonder the vampire had looked familiar to her. But there’d been so many deaths over the years. So many souls. Sometimes, their memories dimmed in her mind.

He leapt from the bed and fired the gun.

Tanner took the bullet. Marna never even had a chance to scream. Tanner jumped in front of her, and the bullet thudded into his chest.

He barely staggered. One step, then he lunged forward and ripped the gun from Riley’s hand before the vamp could fire again.

“Now you’ll kill me,” Riley whispered, and he sounded so grateful. “Now.”

No. “Tanner!”

His claws were at the vamp’s throat. Blood soaked Tanner’s shirt. The bullet had sunk in near his shoulder.

“I knew . . .” Riley wasn’t fighting. “If I shot at her, you’d kill me.”

Tanner’s claws shoved into his own shoulder, and he yanked out the bullet from his flesh. “Nine caliber.” He tossed it aside. “Brimstone, my ass.”

Why did everyone get to lie but her?

Tanner shook his head and glared at the vamp. “You think you’re the first suicide junkie I’ve gotten? Death by cop isn’t in the cards for you. Why don’t you just try fighting for life instead of clawing your way to hell so fast?”

The knife that Riley had dropped lay just steps away from Marna’s feet. She bent and picked it up.

“I can’t fight!” Riley’s teeth flashed. “I’m not strong enough! The Born is in my head every single—” He stopped and his head snapped to the right.

His eyes locked on Marna.

And on the blood that dripped down her arm. She’d sliced into the flesh just below her elbow, and she lifted her arm, offering it to the vampire. “Maybe my blood will be strong enough to help you.”

Didn’t she owe him that much?

He’d been a good man, once. He would have been a good father. Had he even known that his Victoria was pregnant?

Everything had been ripped away from him.

While I watched.

He surged to his feet.