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Authors: Cynthia Eden

Tags: #General, #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal

Angel of Darkness (13 page)

BOOK: Angel of Darkness
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“We do help people.” The cop glanced over her shoulder. Probably to make sure no one else was seeing or hearing any of this. “
I
kill monsters.”
“I’m not a monster! Six months ago, I was as human as you! I’m not—”
“Vampires lie. They trick. Deceive. One promised my sister she’d live forever.”
Oh, crap. This wasn’t going to end well.
“You know what he did?”
She could guess.
“He ripped her throat open, and I had to find what was left of her body.” Connelly opened the cage and came inside. The gun barrel never wavered. “I know about
you,
” the cop said. “You play innocent now, but you attacked that sheriff just over the county line.”
That punch would’ve come back to bite her. “I didn’t kill him.” Pointing that out seemed rather useless.
“Probably because you didn’t get the chance.” Connelly’s eyes narrowed. “Tom called me and gave me a heads-up that you might be in the area. He was there when they found my sister’s body. He knew I’d understand just how to deal with someone like you.”
She could not win with this cop. “Listen, I—”
“But what about Jeff Quint?”
A fist squeezed her heart.
“Sam Bentley?”
Dammit. “I didn’t want to kill them.” They haunted her now. She’d never forget their faces.
Never.
“Right.” The cop’s voice easily called bullshit. “You just got
thirsty
and you had to rip out their throats.” Her voice thickened with fury. “
Just like that bastard did to my sister.
He tore her open from one ear to the other.”
Nicole kept her hands loose at her sides. “I don’t want to hurt you.” She understood the other woman’s pain and fury.
“Really? Too bad. I can’t wait to hurt you.”
Crap. “The cop who Tased me—he knows I’m in here.” He had to. “He could come and check and—”
“No one’s checking on you. No one gives a damn if you live or die. As far as they’re concerned, you’re a cop killer—”
Connelly was just steps away.
Kill or be killed
.
Nicole lunged forward. Connelly didn’t have time to shoot. Nicole caught her wrist, twisted it, and heard the snap of bones. When the cop cried out, Nicole plowed back with her elbow, driving it right into the cop’s nose. Cartilage crunched, and blood spurted as the woman went down.
Nicole kicked the gun out of the way. Her breath heaved out as she stared at the unconscious woman. “Lucky for you, I’m
not
a cop killer.” Though that blood was tempting. Good thing Connor had taught her a few tricks out of the bedroom. Maybe she did owe that SOB a bit after all. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the cop. “And lucky for me ...” She knelt next to the other woman. “I think we’re about the same size.”
That meant the uniform might be a perfect fit.
So for the big question ... how did a vamp go about exiting a police station? Well, if she was
really
lucky, she just walked right past the cops, her head down, and her body covered in a cop’s uniform.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to get cozy in here for a while,” Nicole told the unconscious woman as she studied her. Right size. Right hair color.
She yanked off the cop’s shoes. Too small, but they’d have to do.
Two minutes later, “Officer Jennifer Connelly” walked out of the holding cell. Her steps were sure, her head was down, and her heart thundered in her chest.
Behind her, the prisoner sat hunched near the back wall. Her dark hair covered her face.
As she marched down the long corridor out of the holding cell, Nicole felt the sweat slide down her back. She tossed her hand up to a few cops when she passed the bullpen, deliberately waving in such a way that her hand blocked her face.
Then she could see the exit door just steps away. The place was packed with people up front and it was easy to blend with the crowd now. Easy to slip past and walk right out.
She kept her pace nice and easy when she headed down the stone steps outside of the station. Nicole wanted to break and run, yet she couldn’t take the chance of eyes being on her. At the same time, she couldn’t move too slowly. If someone found Jennifer Connelly in her cell ...
A motorcycle’s engine roared and she glanced up. Her breath shuddered out when she saw Keenan pulling up to the curb.
Escape
. Nicole pivoted on her heel and headed toward him.
His head whipped to the right and his eyes locked on her.
Immediately
. Kinda creepy the way he could zero in on her.
“Nicole?”
She shook her head. Then jumped on the back of the motorcycle.
“I was ... coming to save you,” he told her, his voice a bit hesitant.
She laughed at that, had to, as she wrapped her arms around him. “This time, I saved myself.” Barely. “Now haul ass, angel, before the cops realize I’m not back in that cell.” The sun beat down on her, and she just wanted to slump over and sleep ...
Soon.
He revved the engine. “Yes, ma’am.”
Then he hauled ass and got her the hell away from that station—and the cops who wanted her dead. She figured getting her to safety was the least the guy owed her then.
It looked like she couldn’t count on the good guys for help anymore.
I was ... coming to save you.
Sweet.
What would he do when he realized that she was too far gone, that she’d never be saved? Officer Connelly had been right. She’d killed. More than once. She’d liked that wild rush of power that came from taking so much blood.
They were right to try and put her down. Unfortunately for them, she wasn’t in the mood to die.
Nicole closed her eyes and held on to her angel. Tight. And they rode away as if hell really was at their heels.
 
Sam stepped deeper into the shadows near the police station. Rather impressive. Nicole St. James had managed to save herself. No fallen angel needed.
His lips curved.
If she hadn’t saved herself, Keenan would have rushed inside to find a dead vamp. What would the Fallen have done then? Would his rage have broken through?
Now that would have been a sight to behold.
But a time for rage would come, soon enough.
Because Keenan could run with his little vampire, but he wouldn’t be able to hide her. Not for long.
You couldn’t hide from fate, and Nicole’s fate had been decided long ago.
Death.
Even a fallen angel wouldn’t be able to save her.
C
HAPTER
S
EVEN
 
N
icole’s arms wrapped tightly around him, her breasts crushed against his back, and her scent surrounded him.
Safe.
He’d figured out Sam’s riddle too late. He’d gone rushing to that station, and then
she’d
come rushing to him. Wearing, of all things, a cop’s uniform. Not that she didn’t make that uniform look good ...
But he wanted to hear the story behind that outfit.
Keenan kept driving until the lights of the city were a distant memory. The truckstop he pulled into was more a bar than anything else. Run-down, with loud country music blasting into the night, the stop didn’t look particularly inviting. The bike was sputtering though, and he knew the stop was as far as they’d get.
Until he got them other transportation.
He killed the engine and for a moment, he listened to the someone-done-me-wrong lyrics.
Nicole didn’t ease her grip even though they weren’t moving anymore. He rather liked that.
“I can’t go in,” she whispered, and the words feathered against his ear. His cock jerked at her voice. Sexy, husky. His whole body tensed.
Why did he react this way to her? Only her?
Temptation
. Everyone had a dark challenge to face.
He turned to look at her.
She swiped her tongue over her lips. “We’re trying to fade into the background, right? No one in that joint will forget a female cop.”
He bent, pulled out the clothes he’d purchased earlier, and pushed them into her hands.
“What’s—where did you get these?”
He shrugged. “I got them while I was out today.”
Her delicate jaw hardened. “Oh, that’s right. You would’ve had plenty of time to
shop
while I was getting threatened by
your friend
, tazed, and thrown into a cage.” She jumped off the motorcycle and hugged those clothes to her chest. “So don’t even think this makes us close to even again, got me?”
He stilled, his attention caught by her words. “What friend.” Not a question.
She glanced to the left. The right. The lot was dark and he’d made sure to park in the deepest shadows. She jerked off her shirt and gave him a fast glimpse of her breasts. Her sexy bra cupped them nicely. Oh, how he’d like another taste ...
Then she yanked on the new shirt, a tight T-shirt that clung just right to her curves.
“Nicole.” His voice was a rumble and his eyes were straining to see her breasts. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Tell me what friend you’re talking about”
She ditched her pants. Her legs really were perfect. Long, sleek. He’d been so close to learning every detail of her body—inside and out.
Would she ever let him close again?
Doubtful.
“
Eyes up.
” And she zipped the jeans he’d bought for her. She’d even put on the new panties. Well, the scrap that was supposed to be panties.
The lady had done a full-on strip in the parking lot. The handlebars bent beneath his grip. When the metal groaned, her head snapped toward him. “What are you—”
He bounded off the motorcycle and grabbed her arms. “What damn friend?” Keenan bit out because he didn’t have any friends who’d be walking the earth.
“The big guy with eyes the same blue as yours. He had black hair and black clothes to match because he’s all goth.”
“
Sam.
”
“Yeah, that’s what he said—”
He lifted her onto her toes. His gaze bored into hers. “What did he say to you?”
“Ease up on the grip!”
He immediately eased his hold but didn’t let her go.
Sam had gone after her.
“He could’ve killed you.”
“Why does everyone seem to think I’m so easy to kill? I’m still here, still walking around, I’m—”
“For someone like Sam, you
are
easy to kill.” But then, most people were—humans and
Other.
She shook her head. “That guy was bullshitting. He was a demon who wanted to mess with my head.”
“Sam isn’t a demon.”
Her eyes widened. “Then what is he?”
“He’s like me.”
“Fallen.”
Not a question, but he nodded anyway. “Only Sam has been walking this earth for a whole lot longer than you can ever imagine.” His fingers were stroking her skin. Reflex. “And he’s stronger, so much stronger, than any level-ten demon living now.”
“And why’s he coming after me?” That was fear making her voice rise and break.
He clenched his teeth. “Because of me.”
Her breath caught. “He said ... I thought he was lying but he said you fell—”
Damn him.
“For me.”
A big rig pulled into the lot with its tires rolling and its brakes groaning. Keenan pushed Nicole back, moving quickly, and in seconds they were up against the side of the building. Not the best place, but at least they had cover in case any trouble came looking for them.
“Is it true?” Nicole wanted to know, her voice dipping to rub right over his skin. “Am I the reason you fell?”
“No.” Not a lie. “I fell ... because of what
I
did.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.
Nicole pulled her hands away. “He seemed so sure it was because of me.”
Keenan had perfect vision—day or night—and he could see the way her gaze flickered away from his as if she were embarrassed.
“But you were my—my guardian,” she said, “so I just figured—”
“I wasn’t your guardian angel.” Time for more truth. No, this moment, he’d tell her everything because she deserved no less.
A door slammed. He glanced to the left. The trucker was heading inside the stop. Keenan waited for him to leave the lot.
Then ...
“There are a lot of angels. So many different kinds. More than even the theologians realize.” Thousands. All with different jobs and duties.
“Some guard,” he admitted. The stories had that part right. “Others punish.”
Her chin lifted a bit at that.
“Some kill.”
She blinked.
“That night, in that alley ...” He forced himself to take a step back. “You were supposed to die.”
“I did—”
“No.” A rough laugh broke from him. “You were supposed to
die.
Not to wake as a vampire. The vamp was supposed to drain you, to rip your throat out, and to leave your broken body in the alley.”
“Don’t worry about sugarcoating,” she muttered, and he saw her flinch. “I can get the visual on my own.”
His fingers slipped down her cheek. “I couldn’t let it happen. I ... hesitated.”
She stilled at his touch. “You were there to kill me.”
“I was there to take your soul to the next life.” He glanced down at his hand. “One touch. That’s all it would have taken. That’s all it ever took. One touch and death came.”
Now she reached for him and curled her fingers tight around his hand.
“Instead of touching you,” he said, voice hardening, “I touched him.”
“Keenan ...”
“I broke the rules. I took a life that wasn’t mine to claim.
I
disobeyed, and they tossed my ass into hell.”
“Hell?” Her nails bit into his skin. “Oh, Keenan ...”
“My wings were burned away when I fell. Fire blazed through my whole body, and when I hit, when I finally landed ...” he rasped out a breath and let his gaze scan the lot before coming back to her. “I didn’t even know who I was.
What
I was. I woke up, in the middle of an empty field, the earth scorched around me, and when a farmer ran to help me ... I just knew that I-I shouldn’t touch him.”
One touch had always meant death.
She didn’t speak. Nicole just watched him in the darkness, and he knew she saw too much with her vampire eyes. “After heaven, trust me, this ... it was hell to me.” The emotions. The pain. The hunger. The thirst. The need. He hadn’t understood any of them. He’d been lashed with agony, again and again, and hadn’t realized why.
Because when he’d first woken, he’d known nothing but pain and rage.
Until he’d slowly started to remember ... her.
Heaven.
Hell.
Falling.
“It took a little while, but I finally remembered.” Not everything. There was some time lost between his fall and the moment he’d woken up in that field. When he tried to recall those days, he heard the whispers of fire and the echoes of screams.
“I remembered,” he said quietly, “and then I came after you.”
A tear tracked down her cheek.
He caught the tear on his fingers. “Don’t cry for me.”
Another tear slipped down her cheek.
“Don’t cry for me, sweet.”
I’m not worth it.
Because he’d almost taken her that night. She’d been right, he’d just stood there, and
watched.
Never again.
His lips took hers. He tasted the salt from her tears on his tongue. Pain. Angels didn’t know pain. They also didn’t know passion or lust.
Now he knew it all, and he didn’t think the emotions put him in hell anymore. The feelings didn’t rage inside of him and threaten to rip him apart.
Now ... they made him feel alive.
Human.
Her lips opened beneath his. He kissed her deeper, harder, and let her feel the need that drove through him.
It was a need only she could satisfy.
His hands slid down her body, found her waist, curled tight and pulled her closer. Whenever he was around her, he was aroused, hungry for her. Desperate.
The lust beat through his blood. His cock ached, and he
wanted
her.
Naked. Open.
His.
But not against the side of a dirty building. Not with too many eyes that could see too much. When he had her—and he would—he wasn’t going to share.
His tongue tasted her as he let the kiss linger. He’d never be able to get enough of her taste. Sweet and wild—a combination that could be deadly.
Not that he was too worried about death.
Slowly, savoring her, he lifted his head.
“What happens next?” She whispered.
The scent came then, teasing his nose. Flowers. Faint. Fresh.
“We get the hell out of here.” He glanced at the lot. There. A pickup truck sat parked near the left. Big wheels. Shiny coat of paint. Probably with a motor that knew how to howl. “And we get out of here
now.
” The instant they were safe, he’d take her because he couldn’t wait much longer.
His control wasn’t that strong.
But finding a place to keep them away from the prying eyes of an angel ... that wasn’t going to be easy.
The pickup’s driver-side door was locked, so he just shoved his elbow through the window and broke the glass. A quick flick of his fingers on the lock had the door opening.
“You know how to hot-wire this thing?” Nicole asked.
“
What the hell are you doin’, you fuckin’ asshole?
”
Keenan turned at the snarl and saw a tall human male with blond hair racing toward him.
“
That’s my fuckin’ truck!
”
“Yes.” Unfortunate but ... “Sorry. We’re going to need it.”
“
The hell you are!
” The guy swung at Keenan with a hard roundhouse punch.
The punch missed.
The floral scent in the air deepened.
The last thing I need now.
Keenan’s right hand clenched into a fist. “You should have stayed in the bar.”
“
I’ll fuck you up, asshole.
” Spittle flew from the blond’s mouth, and the human pulled out a knife from his boot. “
No one messes with Betty.
”
Betty?
“I think he means the truck,” Nicole murmured.
The human screamed and came at him, that knife up.
He waited, waited ... then Keenan just punched the guy in the face. Down he went. Keenan shook his head. Would it have killed the guy to stay inside and get just one more drink?
BOOK: Angel of Darkness
9.74Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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