Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(45)

“So you did kill those men in that alley.” Jonathan shook his head. “And you did it with just a touch? No drugs. I thought for—”

“I didn’t kill them.” Marna’s voice was fierce.

“You were seen—” Jonathan began.

“Just the way I was seen on the video,” Tanner cut in. “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t her.” How many times would they have to say it before it sank in for the guy? “A demon is behind the attacks. He took her face, and he took mine, and he was trying to set us both up.”

“Why?” Jonathan demanded. “Why the hell would he do all that?”

“As soon as I find him, you can be sure I’ll make him tell me that.” But Tanner already had suspicions. Why set up Marna? Maybe because the killer had wanted to draw her out. To cut away the safety of her secrecy and push her into the spotlight. The cops had yanked her from her solitude. Left her out in the open.

What would have happened to Marna at the police station if Tanner hadn’t gotten her free?

The suspicion gnawed deeper at his gut. Had getting Marna to the station been the plan all along?

Get her there. Make her vulnerable.

Only maybe the demon hadn’t counted on Tanner getting Marna out so quickly. Getting her out and running with her.

When I ran, you had to set me up, too, didn’t you?

Because the killer had wanted to separate Marna and Tanner.

“There was no evidence left behind,” Jonathan muttered. “The scene in that alley was so clean. Everything pointed back to her.”

“Cops know,” Tanner began as that gnawing suspicion dug deeper, “how to clean up scenes.” And even how to stage them.

He mentally flipped back through the possibilities.

You’d need a high-level demon to pull off a glamour trick like that.

A demon who knows his way around crime scenes.

One who had access to all the case files.

Another piece of the puzzle slid into place. “The patrol unit . . . that kid called in our location. He read out my badge number.” By doing so, he’d painted a giant bull’s-eye on his back. Someone with access to that radio line had known exactly where Tanner was.

And exactly how to set him up.

“A cop?” Jonathan whispered, eyes wide, and Tanner knew his partner had reached the same conclusion he had.

He and Marna were being set up, all right, and the demon had probably been working right beside him, and he hadn’t even noticed the guy.

Or the woman.

Jonathan yanked at the cuffs. “Unlock me!”

Tanner dug the key out of his pocket. But he didn’t free Jonathan, not yet. “Who were you selling her to?”

Jonathan’s jaw clenched. “I wasn’t selling her, man. Get that part straight. I’m a good cop, okay? The captain . . . shit, she told me to find her. Pope saw her in the video, and she knew that you’d been hiding her. Hell, she’s the one who told me what your lady was.”

An angel.

“Captain Pope isn’t human.” Did the guy realize that?

Marna just watched them as she rocked forward on the balls of her feet. He could feel the tension rolling off her.

Jonathan swallowed. “I was beginning to suspect that was—”

“She’s a demon.” Tanner just didn’t know how strong she was.

“Sonofabitch.” Jonathan’s gaze darted to the boarded-up warehouse windows. “She probably followed you. Probably set the whole department after you.”

She’d said that she was gonna clear his name. She’d told him to go.

Don’t trust a demon.

There was only one demon he’d ever trusted in this world. His brother. The captain had been desperate to find out where Cody was.

And I told her.

Fuck.

What in the hell was going on?

“Let me out of these cuffs!” Jonathan demanded, lurching forward. “Let me help!”

Tanner stepped toward his partner. Marna stopped him. “When Jonathan came to your apartment, he shot his way inside.” Her hand felt silken soft against his skin. “When I ran, he followed me, shooting.”

The panther snarled and tried to push past the man’s control.

Eyes wide, Jonathan scurried back. “Warning shots! I wasn’t aiming at her, I swear. If I had been, I would’ve hit her!”

Was that supposed to lessen his rage? The bastard had shot at her.

“Yes, he would have hit me,” Marna said, sending a hard glance his way, “just like he did before.” She shook her head. “I don’t trust him, and I don’t want that human free.”

Yeah, well, after a bullet, who could blame her?

“Tanner, man, listen to me.” Jonathan’s voice was desperate now. “Don’t do anything crazy, okay? Don’t do anything like—”

“Like let my animal side out?” Perhaps it was time the guy saw just what he could do. Tanner let his claws break free.

Razor sharp. Ready to kill.

Jonathan scrambled back some more. His back almost brushed the wall. “Please, man, I—”

“Come near her again,” Tanner told him, “and you’ll see just how dangerous my beast can be.” Jonathan’s bullets wouldn’t have killed her, but Tanner couldn’t stand the thought of Marna in pain.