Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(81)

“She said your name.” Cody brushed past him. “It was the last thing she said.”

She loved me.

Cody was beside Marna now. He stood near her, but didn’t touch her. “I’m sorry.” Shame lurked in his words. “If I’d been stronger . . .”

Then his mother wouldn’t have died? “He never kept his women around too long.” Forever hadn’t been a concept their father understood. Since he hadn’t been the sharing sort, he viewed death as the only option for getting rid of his unwanted mates.

The bastard really had been born without a soul. And to think, most supernaturals believed shifters had two souls. Those of beasts and men.

Maybe he only got the soul of the beast. Maybe that was why his father had only known fury and violence.

Shoulders hunched and steps slow, Cody crept from the room. After a moment, Marna came inside and quietly closed the door. “You scared me,” she said.

He didn’t move toward her. Tanner felt raw inside. Dangerous.

My mother died for Cody.

“Do you blame him, for her death?”

Tanner shook his head. She was always trying to save the pack. “She died when I was seven. He was only four then.” Just four, and he’d taken claws to the heart. “Saving others . . . that’s who she was.”

She’d never walked away from anyone in pain.

Marna studied him a moment, then said, “I think you’re a lot like her.”

No, I’m like him. Marna was close enough to touch now. Why did he feel that touching her would make her dirty? She deserves better. “You weren’t supposed to give me your blood again.”

“And you weren’t supposed to start seizing right in front of me.” She gave a little shrug. “I guess fate had other plans for us.”

Fate could be a cruel bitch. He’d known that since his second birthday. “Did Kali see you?”

A nod. “Who do you think ran the transfusion?”

Shit. “Then I’ll make sure she doesn’t talk. She won’t—”

“How are you going to make sure?” Her hand touched his arm. Her fingers were so light against his skin. “She’s already gone. With you and Cody out of danger, she slipped away.”

Fuck. His muscles tightened. “Then she could be selling you out right now. Telling everyone where to find angel blood.” They had to find her. They had to—

Marna gave a slow nod. “She could be, or she could have just been going out to help someone else. That’s what she does, you know. She helps. And she drinks her blood from a bag, not a live source.”

Ah . . . that was his Marna, being too trusting again. “Is that the story she gave you? Baby, how many times do I have to tell you? A lie from a supernatural sounds like the sweet truth from an—”

“Angel?” she finished with raised brows.

He turned away from her. Headed to the window. Someone had opened it, letting in a spill of light from the stars and moon.

A rustle of sound teased his ears. Like wings . . .

A shadow moved closer to the cabin. “Your blood,” he said slowly, staring out at that shadow, “makes me see things I shouldn’t see.”

The floor creaked beneath her feet. “Like what?”

Tanner glanced over his shoulder at her. So beautiful. “Like the shadows of wings that were cut from your back.”

Her lips parted in surprise. Tanner stepped away from the window and headed closer to her. Moving to protect. “And like that * angel who’s coming toward us right now.”

“Someone’s coming? But—”

But he was already there.

Tanner saw the angel fly right through the window opening, twisting his body easily, fluidly, and then landing on his feet. The angel’s eyes were only on Marna. For a being that was supposed to be stone-cold when it came to emotions, that golden stare was sure burning hot.

Tanner stepped a foot to the left and blocked his view. “Hello, again, *.”

Bastion’s gaze snapped to his face. A muscle flexed in the angel’s jaw. “Can you do nothing but take from her?”

Tanner’s shoulders stretched. He hadn’t intended to take her blood again. Not like that detail had been written down in his game plan. “Can you do nothing but be a pr ick?”

Bastion lunged forward. Because he’d wanted to attack since he’d first watched Bastion stare at Marna with lust in his eyes, Tanner swiped out with his fist. The punch slammed right into the side of the angel’s face—

Even as Bastion shoved his hand against Tanner’s chest.

“No!” Marna’s scream.

The touch burned him, as if he’d been branded, cutting into skin and stealing his breath. In that burning instant, Tanner realized that the bastard had just given him the Death Touch.

Except he wasn’t dying. Tanner glanced down at the hand that still rested against his chest, and when he looked up once more, he knew his smile held an evil edge. “My turn.” Then he lifted his claws.

Fear flashed over Bastion’s face. He stumbled back, his eyes wild as he looked for an escape. Fool. Didn’t he know just how much the beast liked to hunt? Tanner stalked forward. His claws were now ripping from both hands. “This is gonna—”

“Tanner!” Marna’s voice froze him. Then she was there, putting her body between him and the angel. “Don’t.” Her gaze dropped to his claws, and she shuddered. “Don’t. Don’t make him like me.”