Authors: Cynthia Eden

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

Angel of Darkness (7 page)

BOOK: Angel of Darkness

7.75Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

The shadow wings were just an illusion. A magic memory. Only seen by demons or angels ... any who had the blood of the celestial beings in them.

Lucifer hadn’t been the only angel to fall. So many others had lost their grace. Or traded it for the chance to be like the humans.

No, the demons who walked the earth now weren’t puppets of the devil. They were descendants of the Fallen. Not as favored as humans, but not as cursed as most of the monsters, no matter what some of the zealots liked to think.

“Did he have any unusual marks?” Sam pressed. Who was he up against? You couldn’t fight a battle without knowing your enemy.

He’d been right. The vamp had been the link. The key. The Fallen had gone after her, just as Sam had suspected he would.

“No,” Elijah said with a shake of his shaggy head. “He was blond, and he had black eyes. He was one of them damn pretty-boy angels but ...” The demon’s eyes narrowed. “When I first saw him, I swear I felt a cold wind blow right over me.”

Sam’s breath expelled.
Perfect.
There were so many angels out there, so many different kinds—some harmless and some very, very dangerous. He didn’t want to waste his time with the harmless variety.

“How did he act with the woman?” A freshly-fallen angel would be confused. Unprepared for the onslaught of emotion—and need. Lust.

Easy pickings.

Elijah glanced over his shoulder. But, the demon didn’t need to check for a threat behind him. The real menace was right in front of him. Was the guy truly becoming a trusting sort now? Fatal mistake.

“His eyes kept going to her ...”

Interesting.

“And he said he was her
guardian.
”

Sam’s lips quirked at that. He suspected the guy was far from a benevolent guardian angel. But if that was the spin the Fallen wanted to play, then who was he to bust the vamp’s bubble? At least, not yet.

“I’m all about killing a vamp.” Elijah crossed his arms over his bulky chest. “But I ain’t taking on that bastard.”

“You’re that sure he’ll take you out?” The demon’s fear was new. Elijah had never been afraid of a hunt before.

But Elijah was backing down. “I know Death when I see him.”

Yes, Sam was rather betting that he did.

“We’re done,” Elijah said, turning away and giving Sam his back. Oh, bad move. “I’m sick of dancing on your damn string ...”

Right. Same song, different fucking dance. “And where will you get your special brew, Elijah? When you walk away from me, who will help you?”

Now that stopped him.

Elijah looked back, and the struggle was clearly etched on his face. Like so many of his kind, Elijah had a bit of an addiction.
Demons and addictions.
When Elijah used his drugs, he could focus his thirst for blood and violence. With the drugs, he didn’t kill just anyone—he killed specific targets.

Without the drugs ... women, children—
everyone
became his prey.

Sam liked to think he’d been doing his part to keep the dog on the leash these last few months. But if Elijah was ready to bite the hand that had been feeding him ...

“You’re not the only game in town,” Elijah muttered and kept walking.

Oh, but I am.

“When you change your mind,” Sam called after him. “Maybe I’ll help you.”

Elijah was nearing the top of the small hill, his body a dark shadow.

“And maybe I’ll just kill you,” Sam whispered, smiling, because he knew that the demon couldn’t hear him.

His dog would be back. Probably within forty-eight hours. And if he wasn’t ... there were always other demons. Others who needed what he could give them. Others who were weaker, and so easy to control.

Demons came in every size, color, and power. Some barely tipped the scales, those with powers between one and three. Those poor bastards might as well be humans. A power scale of ten was supposed to be the strongest. A level ten, or L-10, was the alpha of the demon land. So the stories said.

The stories were bullshit.

He glanced back up at the sky and all those glittering stars and he began to whistle.

It took a while for a Fallen’s powers to come back. The crash and burn wiped out an angel. This new opponent wouldn’t be at full strength yet.

It was the perfect time to play.

And time to see just how attached the “guardian” truly was to his charge.

Would he kill for her? Bleed for her? Die for her?

One way to find out ...

A star fell, blazing a trail across the sky.

C
HAPTER
F
OUR

N
icole lunged across the truck and grabbed the wheel. She jerked it hard to the right and the truck careened across the road.

Keenan fought to push her back, but he’d been totally unprepared for her attack. “Nicole, what are you—”

The truck plowed into a wooden fence and fought to hurtle forward.

Keenan shoved his foot down on the brake and the vehicle bounced twice, then steam exploded from the engine as the truck finally stopped.

Of course, Nicole had already flown from the truck by then. Her door hung open, swaying in the breeze, and he caught sight of her curving, come-get-me hips as she ran away from him.

Again.

He jumped out of the truck. Yeah, that piece of crap wasn’t going anywhere, but if he didn’t hurry, Nicole could easily vanish.

“Nicole!” He shouted. Great. He couldn’t see her now. With a vamp’s speed, she could be anywhere. “I’m trying to help you!” Keenan called out into the night.

The hit came from behind. A hard, fast tackle that sent him slamming into the ground. He rolled, moving in a blink, but it still wasn’t fast enough. Nicole pinned his hands to the ground and loomed over him.

“Why do I need help from a demon?” She demanded and her teeth lengthened as he watched.

She straddled his body. Her hips and sex pushed down onto him. Keenan had never been in this particular position with a woman. He rather ... liked it.

A lot.

His cock began to swell. “I don’t ... I’m not here to hurt you.” He didn’t bother letting his eyes change back to blue. She’d see him as he was. Probably would be better that way. Keenan could break from her hold in an instant, vampire strength or not, but he lay on the ground beneath her and let his gaze slowly rise to her face. “If I’d wanted you dead, I could have killed you back at the hotel. You couldn’t fight back in your sleep.”

“Maybe killing me isn’t the plan.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Death is the easy part.”

He’d always thought so. Until her.

“If this is all some trick that you and your demon buddies are working, think again.”

Now she was starting to offend him. “I have no demon friends.” Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure that he actually had
any
friends.

She leaned closer to him, and her thighs slid against his hips.

Like it.

“What’s so special about me, huh?” The darkness shone in her eyes.
To fight or fuck.
He’d heard the whisper before. A vamp’s eyes changed to black when she was either getting ready to battle or to screw.

“Tell me, Keenan ... Why do I get a guardian? You don’t know me. You know
nothing
about me.”

Her scent surrounded him. Her hair brushed his cheek. If he wanted, he could lunge up and reverse their positions in about two seconds. Maybe one.

If he wanted.

I want.

He put a stranglehold on the beast that was growing inside of him. A beast he hadn’t even known about until her.

Lust.

“You’re not special,” he managed to grit from between his teeth.

She blinked at him. “Uh, I—”

“You’re just like every other human out there.” If he said it enough, it would be true.

“Wrong answer, hotshot. I’m not exactly human.” And she let her claws scratch his flesh. A light, painful sting.

It shouldn’t have made his cock twitch.

It did.

He sucked in a breath and tasted her. His eyes squeezed shut. But now ... now he could feel her. Supple thighs. Slender, soft body.
Control.
“You ... you were just like the others.” His words came out as a growl. “Going to work. Teaching at that school. Work. Home. Over and over.”

He caught the hitch of her breath. “What school?”

His eyes opened. “St. Mary’s. Down in the Quarter. You’d stay late with the kids, then hurry home, change and meet—who was it? Donna—for drinks at the bar on—”

“
How do you know this
?”

“You never went home with any of the men.” Not while he’d been watching. “You flirted. You drank. Wore skirts a bit shorter than the ones you used to wear at St. Mary’s—”

A shiver skated down her body—the shiver trembled over him like a silken touch.

“You weren’t any different from a hundred other women in the city. Work, job, friends ...”
No different.
No different from the thousands of other charges he’d taken, but when he’d looked into her eyes ...

He’d lost everything.

The rage hit him then, a hard fire that burned with the lust. Keenan lunged up, spun them, and pushed her onto the ground.

“I’m not a human you can jerk around,” he told her, bringing his face in close to hers. “Your strength isn’t going to work on me. Your bite isn’t going to make me weak.” Right then, he was the one wanting to take a bite. And why couldn’t he? Why couldn’t he take what he wanted from her?

He’d
burned
for her.

“That’s bullshit!” She tried to shove away from him. When would she realize he wasn’t letting her go anywhere? “A vamp can drain a demon, a vamp can kill—”

He stared into her eyes. No, she wasn’t the same woman she’d been. In her stare, he now saw the secrets, the pain, the fury. A fury that matched his own because he wasn’t the same, either. “Sweet, I don’t remember saying I was a demon. Just that the bastard had seen through my glamour.”

Her lips parted.

And he took.

His mouth crashed onto hers, a deep, hard kiss. This need, this consuming hunger—it was what had led the humans into temptation.

Sin.

Oh, yes, he wanted to sin with her.

She didn’t wrench her head away from him. Didn’t bite him with those too-sharp teeth.

But she didn’t kiss him back.

He
wanted
her to kiss him back.

“
Nicole
...” His hold gentled on her wrists. Her breasts were tight. Her hips pressing up against him. Keenan knew the signs of a woman’s arousal but he didn’t know how to get her to give in to her need.

His hands freed hers. He kept his lips on hers and managed to soften the kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth.
Yes.
That rich taste that was pure Nicole tormented him. He wanted more. Wanted everything.

And her hands were on him now. In his hair. Not pushing away. Pulling closer.

Her tongue met his. She gave a little moan in her throat, a hungry, hot sound that had all the blood in his body rushing right to his erection.

Lust.

Men had killed for this. Died.

He could understand. Finally.

His hands pushed between their bodies and found the snap of her jeans.
Touch.

He had to know what she felt like. Had to see if she was wet. Hot. Would she taste as sweet there?

Her zipper hissed down. His fingers pushed inside and found the soft cotton of her underwear. Her hips arched against him, and her tongue licked across his lips.

And a car’s engine growled in the distance. Coming closer. Closer.

No.

His head snapped up. His breath heaved out, and he couldn’t look away from her. On the ground. Lips red from his mouth. Her arms around him, her claws digging into his skin.

His gaze trekked down her body. His stare lingered on the pebbled nipples that thrust against her borrowed shirt. Slowly, slowly, his gaze dropped down to the jeans that were unsnapped, revealing the pale skin of her abdomen, the dark black of her panties.

More.

The car’s engine idled closer. A siren blared on, a slow, droning wail.

“A cop ...” Her husky voice was like a stroke right over his flesh. “If he sees the truck, he’ll think we’re hurt. He’s not going to leave ...”

No. “This isn’t over.” His thumb brushed over her lips. Her eyes widened and then her tongue snaked out, licking him.

His heart shoved into his ribs. “Nicole,
don’t run from me again.
”

The cop was getting closer. Keenan could hear the tread and roll of the tires.

Her head moved in the slightest of nods. “After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay? Because if you’re not a demon, then what are you?”

He would tell her this much. “Once upon a time,” he rose, stretching to his feet and pulling her up with him. “I was an angel.”

Her lips parted in surprise, but then she immediately shook her head. “What? Come on, no way. Angels aren’t—”

“Vampires can be real. Demons can live. Werewolves can howl.” He raised a brow. “Why can’t angels exist?”

A car door slammed. Footsteps thudded toward them. “
Oh, shit,”
a rumbling male voice said.
“Hello! Hello! It’s all right, I can help you!”

Keenan glanced back toward the wrecked truck. In the dark, a human wouldn’t be able to see them. The beam of headlights from the patrol car illuminated the truck’s wreckage. He turned toward the cop.

Nicole grabbed his hand. “Guardian ... angel?”

Not quite.

“There’s something you should know,” he said, but didn’t look at her. Her hand felt cool against his overheated flesh.

“Wh-what?”

“Sometimes, angels really do fall.” She deserved the warning.

Nicole sucked in a sharp breath.

“And when we do, we bring hell on earth in our wake.”

She backed up a step. “So are you the good guy—”

He laughed at that. “Not even close.” But he leaned in toward her and pulled up her zipper, then snapped her jeans. His fingers lingered too long. He couldn’t help that. “But I’m not here to hurt you. Those bastards who come after you, yeah, I’ll hurt them, but
not you.
”

“Because I’m your key?”

He’d told her that in a weak moment. The truth should have stayed hidden. Too late now. He gave a grim nod.

The cop was swearing and yelling. They’d have to talk more later.

Keenan headed for the truck.

“If it’s all true ...”

Her voice followed him. She didn’t.

“If it’s true,” she said again, and, so, what, a vampire doubted an angel’s word? The world really was screwed. “Then, Keenan, what made you fall?”

He froze.

“Angels don’t just ... fall. It had to be something big, right? Something very, very bad.”

The cop’s flashlight hit him them.
“Sonofabitch!”
The guy exclaimed and ran toward Keenan. “Take it easy, sir, I’ll get you help, I can—”

Keenan lifted his hand. “I’m not hurt.”

“Neither am I,” Nicole murmured as she came slowly to his side.

The flashlight jerked toward her and illuminated her pale face.

“Ma’am, you sure about that?” The cop’s voice held an edge of worry. “That truck was smashed to hell and back.”

Apt.

“Not a scratch on me,” she said, her lips rising in a smile.

The cop—no, that wasn’t a cop. The older man approaching them so cautiously wore a brown sheriff’s uniform, complete with a shining silver star. The sheriff raised his brows. “Mind telling me what happened out here?” The worry had faded from his voice, and suspicion coated the words. His right hand began to inch toward his hip and the gun holstered there.

Nicole stepped forward.

After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay?

Keenan grabbed her wrist. Nicole wasn’t the same woman she’d been in New Orleans. He didn’t know what she’d been doing for the last six months. Drinking from prey, killing them?

Don’t know, but I still want her just as much.

That was the problem.

“Don’t hurt him,” he ordered, his voice a whisper.

Her expression never altered.

“Let go of that woman,”
the sheriff barked. “And you both put your hands up high in the air.”

Keenan let her go and raised his hands. After a moment, Nicole followed suit.

BOOK: Angel of Darkness

7.75Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

ads