Avenging Angel (26 page)

“Death angels.” Jonathan gave a slow nod that Tanner saw from the corner of his eye. “Okay, so there are different
types
of angels? I thought—I thought they were all the same.”

“Hell, no. They’re like anyone else—some good, some evil. The most dangerous ones… they have to be stopped.” Which was what he’d do to Bastion once he caught the guy. Bastion had flown so fast, it was hard to trace the scent. As soon as he’d reached the Quarter, Tanner had lost that elusive smell. Now he circled around, gaze darting from the left to the right.
Where are you?

“How can angels . . . be bad?” Now Jonathan sounded confused. Who could blame the guy? Humans were at a serious disadvantage in the paranormal game. The guy had already been jerked around once. No telling what bull the captain had fed him.

“The world is full of good and evil.” This came from Cody. Had the guy stopped bleeding yet? “Even angels can sin.”

Right. Tanner said, “And they can get their lily white asses tossed from heaven.” Like Sammael. Like Az. Soon . . . like Bastion?

“Is that—is that what happened with your angel?” Jonathan asked as his fingers drummed against the dashboard. He’d dented it with his fist earlier. “Did your Marna get cast out?”

“No,” he snapped. He needed to shift. The panther would be able to pick up Marna’s scent so much better. But dawn was coming, and there were already too many humans out in the streets. There wasn’t enough space to hide the beast in the daylight.

“Marna was different,” Cody said softly as he leaned forward, and his fingers curled around the cage. “Our brother Brandt cut her wings away.”

Jonathan gave a low whistle. “That’s one sick family you have there,” he muttered. “I hope you gave that bastard exactly what he deserved.”

I didn’t. But someone else sure did.
“He’s in hell.”

Jonathan grunted. “Sounds like he’s just where he needs to be.”

 

“You’re saying that I’m going to . . . die?” But she didn’t want to die yet. She had just really started to live. She wanted to stay there, with Tanner, to have a child—

Bastion shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it. I’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to worry.”

Then she realized what he was doing, and it broke her heart. “You can’t . . . you can’t change what’s meant to be.” An angel was supposed to follow orders. To take the souls in their care.

She knew of another angel who’d refused to take a soul. The angel had been right here, just blocks away in New Orleans. One dark night, the angel called Keenan had refused to take the soul of a human woman. He’d thought that Nicole St. James should have the chance to live.

For his sin, he’d been punished. He’d fallen.

A tear slipped down her cheek. Why did things have to be this way? Why did everything have to be so twisted? “You can’t fall because of me.”

His hand lifted. His fingers trembled as he brushed the tear away. “I’m not going to stand back and watch you suffer.” His jaw clenched. “I’ll do what I must in order to keep you safe. Others have changed fate. I can do it, too.” A pause. “I’ve done it once already, and I didn’t fall. I’m still here.”

What? “You know you can’t get away with that. It’s only a matter of time until—until—”
Until his crimes caught up with him.
She shook her head. “I won’t let you be punished for me!”

His hand was still against her cheek. “You never should have been a death angel. I know. I saw how much taking each soul hurt you.”

She shouldn’t have felt pain. He shouldn’t be feeling pain now. They’d always been taught—

It looked like they’d all been taught wrong. Was that why so many were falling? Because they couldn’t hold the emotions in check any longer?

“I’m going to hunt the one who is after you. I will kill him.” A vow from Bastion.

No.
She couldn’t let him sacrifice so much for her.

Marna drew in a deep breath. She didn’t want to hurt Bastion, but sometimes, there wasn’t a choice. Sometimes you had to hurt the ones you loved.

She caught his hand and curled her fingers around his flesh. “Did I ever tell you,” she asked softly as her gaze met his, “how much I care for you?”

His eyes widened. “Marna . . .”

“So I hope you understand why I have to do this.” She pulled up the power that had been growing within her.
Getting stronger each day.
And Marna blasted that energy right at Bastion. Not enough power to kill him, never that, but enough to send the angel flying away from her and crashing onto the rooftop. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she turned away. “But it’s my battle, and I won’t have you turned into—”

Broken. Lost.

“Marna—” Her name, gasped, weak.

She hurried to the edge of the roof. She’d never tried this without wings before. Hopefully, it wouldn’t hurt her too much. Either way, she’d heal. Angels always did.

She stepped off the roof and fell straight to the ground below.

 

“So where the hell are we heading?” Jonathan asked, voice rising. “If an angel took her, can’t she be anyplace?”

Yes, she could be. Tanner shoved his foot down harder on that accelerator. When he caught up to Bastion, he was going to make that angel wish for a swift trip to hell.

“He would have gotten her as far from Tanner as possible,” Cody said. “Taken her someplace where he felt in control.”

“And that’s not the swamp.” The swamp wasn’t the place for that lily-white, pretty-boy angel. But the city, probably some spot up high so he could look down on everyone else, yeah, that was more the angel’s style.

And that was why Tanner had driven back to the city as fast as the patrol car would go.

“We have to be careful,” Jonathan told him as his gaze swept the tight streets. “If any other cops see you . . .”

Tanner nodded. “They won’t be taking me in.” His life as a cop was over. Gone. He knew that. Pity. Fucking shame. He’d always wanted to protect. To stop the criminals hunting in the streets.

To make up for my own past.
But that was all gone now. He was hunted, because of the freak who’d targeted him and Marna.

“What—what kinds of angels are out there?” Jonathan asked. A fast glance showed him running a shaking hand through his hair. “When Captain told me . . . she never said there were so many.”

“Maybe she didn’t know,” Cody said, still leaning forward and holding that cage. “I think Jillian was more interested in stealing angel blood than anything else.”

“Bitch,” Jonathan muttered. “She deserved the death you gave her.”

Tanner didn’t speak, just kept driving as fast as he could.
Hold on, Marna. I’m coming.

“There are so many. Angels of death . . . guardians . . . punishers,” Cody began, listing some of the angels that walked the earth.

“Punishers?” Jonathan asked as he turned to look at Cody. “What—like angels who actually punish humans?”

“Not just humans,” Cody said. “Anyone. They’ve come after their share of supernaturals, too. You cross the line, and they’ll come for you.”

Tanner wished the two of them would just shut the hell up. He wanted to focus on Marna. If he could just pick up her scent again . . .

A sudden blast of music filled the car. Swearing, Jonathan yanked out his cell. “Detective Pardue.
What?
Where?”

Tanner raced through a yellow light. He’d go search by the Square. Maybe she was—

“Go to St. Louis Street,” Jonathan told him, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “I’ve got an informant there, one who’s paid to let me know when he sees anything unusual going on.”

Because the human wanted to know everything about the supernaturals. Didn’t he realize just how dangerous that was?

“That was him on the phone. He said—he said he just saw a woman jump off a three-story building, and then the woman just walked away without a scratch.”

The tires squealed as Tanner rounded the corner, and because, dammit, humans were coming out and cars were in his way, he flashed on his lights and let his siren scream.

The buildings rushed by him in a blur.

“Low profile, man,” Jonathan snapped.
“Low freaking profile.”

Screw that. Another screeching turn. One more. Then . . .

He had her scent. It was the sweetest scent in the world. Tanner slammed the car to a stop and leapt out. He raced through the line of alleys. Jumped over fences. His body burned with the need to shift, but he held the beast back. Not here. Not now.

Not—

He saw her. She must have heard the thud of his footsteps because she turned around. Her eyes widened and she ran toward him with her arms out.

 

“He loves her,” Cody said, voice tight. “If anything happens to Marna . . .”

Jonathan jumped from the car. Tanner had already taken off, running fast as he followed the angel’s scent. He hadn’t even looked back.

A mistake.

Cody was in the back. The demon was strong enough that he could probably kick the doors open, but, for the moment he was trapped. Vulnerable.

Jonathan pulled out his gun.

Cody’s eyes widened. His fist slammed into the window.

And Jonathan’s bullet shattered the glass between them. Because it wasn’t a normal bullet—he knew better than to battle a monster with a bullet made by humans.

“She doesn’t love him,” Jonathan said and fired again. “And soon it won’t matter how the fuck that animal feels—he’ll be dead.”

He’d make sure of it. He turned away from the car and began to stalk after his partner. The power pulsed just beneath his skin. Then, because he could, because it would be so fucking fitting, he let his form shift. The bones of his face twisted and reshaped. He grew taller. Leaner.

And became the demon that he’d left bleeding in the backseat of that patrol car.

It would be so sweet.

M
arna ran to Tanner and threw her arms around him. He felt so good—solid, warm, strong. “I was coming to find you.”

He lifted his head and gazed down into her face. “Like I was gonna let you go.” Then he kissed her. Deep and hot and she met him with a hungry need. Only Tanner. He was the only one who could make her feel this way. Free. Wild.

Marna pulled away from him. “We have to go.” Go where? She didn’t know. They just had to get out of the street. Get someplace safe. Away from the death that stalked her.

But Tanner wasn’t moving. And . . . had she heard gunshots? Or had that just been a car backfiring in the distance?

“Where is he?” Tanner demanded.
“Where’s Bastion?”

He hadn’t come after her. She hoped he stayed away. “Gone.” She didn’t want to tell Tanner about the list. What was the point? So he’d get desperate and risk his life for her? If she was on the list . . .

Marna grabbed Tanner’s hand and pulled him toward the building on the right. The big FOR SALE sign told her the place was empty, and with one kick, she sent the front door flying in. The house was dark inside, and all the furniture was gone. Hollow.

“Marna—”

She pushed Tanner back against the wall. Kissed him. How much time did she have left? Couldn’t be long. No one ever lasted long once their name came up on the list.

She wanted her last moments to be with him. Happiness, before whatever hell was waiting for her came calling.

His hands were on her waist. Rough fingertips, but with a touch so gentle. His claws were out, but they didn’t so much as scratch her skin. They never did. He always treated her so carefully.

“Tanner!”
She heard Cody’s voice as if from a distance. Footsteps pounded outside. She didn’t want to pull free from Tanner. Couldn’t they just stay together a little longer? And let the rest of the world disappear?

But Tanner was gently pushing her back. “He’s worried about you.”

Marna swallowed. She needed to tell him this. Too many humans had passed—at her hand—with unsaid words in their hearts. She didn’t want to go the same way. “I’ve been happy with you.”

A faint furrow appeared between his brows.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered. But sometimes it wasn’t about what you wanted. It was about what fate had planned.

“Then don’t.” His eyes seemed to glow as his beast pushed ever closer. “Stay with me, forever.”

She wanted to. Wished that she could. But Marna couldn’t make a promise that she wouldn’t be able to keep. Her hand traced the hard edge of his jaw. “I love you.” She’d never said the words to another.

“Tanner!”
Cody was shouting again. So close out in the street. He’d find them at any moment.

Why did that thought make her shiver?

“You what?” Tanner asked. Then a wide smile broke his face. “Baby, you know I’m fucking insane for you.”

She started to smile.

The door flew open and banged against the wall with a thud. Marna’s head turned, and she saw Cody standing in the doorway. His eyes found hers. Narrowed when he saw Tanner holding her so close.

And why was Cody holding a gun?

“I was worried, brother,” Cody said, taking a step closer to them. “You didn’t answer when I called.”

Tanner inhaled, and in a flash, he had Marna behind him. “You’re not my
brother.
”

Laughter from Cody. Had laughter ever been so cold?

“You’re not soaked in his blood this time,” Tanner snapped, “so I can smell
you.”

“I’m not your brother.” An evil grin. “And you’re not the white knight who gets to live happily-fucking-ever-after with the lost angel.”

A gunshot blasted. Marna screamed. Tanner flinched.

“You don’t get to live at all,” Cody told him. Then he fired again. But Tanner was already leaping forward. The bullet tore into him, and he knocked the gun from Cody’s hands.

Tanner’s claws went for the guy’s throat. “You don’t . . . steal my brother’s . . . f-face.”

Tanner’s body slumped. Marna rushed toward the men and grabbed Tanner just before he hit the floor. Tanner looked up at her, and his pupils were pinpricks in his eyes. She’d never seen his skin look so ashen. “Tanner?”

Blood poured from his chest, and smoke drifted up from the wounds. But . . . silver wouldn’t take her shifter out like this. He was too strong.

“I stole his life, so why not his face?” More laughter. Cold and grating.

Tanner was trying to claw at his wounds in order to get the bullets out.

“I learned from my mistakes,” Cody said. No, not Cody. Who the hell was it? “Those bullets had enough tranq in them to take out an elephant. Much less a mangy shifter like him. Tranq and a dark witch’s magic.”

Marna surged to her feet. Her hands clenched at her sides. She stared at the man who thought he’d take Tanner away from her—and she let her fire rip right out at him.

He lifted his hand and waved the flames away. “You have to do better than that, angel—”

She grabbed for the gun that had dropped on the floor—and then she pointed the weapon right back at the jerk. In a flash, she had the barrel pressing against his chest. “I’m just getting started.”

She pulled the trigger as he screamed. The bullet blasted through him even as blood splattered around her. He fell back. His body twitched on the floor, trembling, and Marna aimed down at him, then fired again.

He stopped twitching. And he stopped being Cody.

As she watched, his features slowly changed. In death, shifters always resumed their human forms. She didn’t know what the hell this guy was—shifter, demon, angel—but he was changing back.

His shoulders narrowed. His body thinned. Bones snapped in his face. His cheeks became leaner.

Not a face of evil. Not a monster. A man she knew.

His eyes were closed, his body not moving—and he was Tanner’s partner. Jonathan was the monster who’d been after them.
Jonathan.

He was also the man she’d just killed.

The scent of flowers teased her nose. Grim satisfaction filled her. A death angel would be coming to collect his soul soon.

One less monster in the world.

She turned back around to find her shifter. Tanner was still on the floor. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was labored. She knelt next to him. His claws were buried in his chest. He’d been trying to take out the last bullet. Swallowing, she guided his hand and used his claws to dig deeper into his flesh. Then she reached inside the wound, biting her lip to stop the trembling, and she found the bullet with her own shaking fingertips.

She pulled the bullet out. Dropped it. Marna took his face in her hands and smeared blood on his cheeks where she touched him. “It’s going to be okay,” she promised him. “He’s gone now. We’re both going to be—”

Laughter.

The cruelest sound she’d ever heard. Marna kept her hold on Tanner, but she turned her head so that she could see Jonathan’s body.

Only he wasn’t dead. Not even close. He sat up. Blood streamed down his chest, but Jonathan didn’t seem affected by the injuries. “You play dirty,” he told her.

She reached out and grabbed for the gun. Fired again. More blood.
How many more bullets?
And shouldn’t the tranqs knock him out, too? Why weren’t they working?

He rose to his feet.

The gun clicked. No more bullets.

“Seems being a hybrid has more than its share of advantages. Drugs don’t have an effect on me. They can’t knock me out—can’t even give me a damn buzz. And other wounds . . .” He touched his chest. Just that fast—
not bleeding anymore. Not good.
“They heal almost as fast as I get ’em.”

She had to find a weapon. The guy was a hybrid. Okay . . . so half human, half angel? Or half angel and half something else that would be really, really hard to kill?

When it came to angels, mortal weapons just wouldn’t do the trick. So she needed something strong enough to kill the guy, something not made by mortal means. Marna glanced down at Tanner’s hands. His claws hadn’t retracted. Not yet.

Those will do the trick.
She just had to get the guy killing close.

“I can see your wings, you know,” Jonathan told her, his eyes at a point just over her shoulder. “The first time I saw you—and them—I knew just how perfect we’d be together.”

So he’d taken her face, Tanner’s face, Cody’s face . . . and killed. “We’re not going to be anything together.” She kept her hold on Tanner. Had his breathing changed or was that her imagination?
Heal faster. Heal faster.

“Do you know what it’s like to be different?” Jonathan was just talking to her like they had all the time in the world to chat. Like he hadn’t shot her lover and killed people all over the city.
Insane.
Yes, she could see the madness now. He wasn’t bothering to hide it anymore. “To know that you’re all alone, while the rest of the world is running around, blind?”

She licked her lips. Okay. If he wanted to talk, she’d keep him talking. That would give Tanner and his shifter self more time to push the drugs from his system. “You’re earthbound.”

Jonathan blinked. “I’m an angel, just like you.”

Not even close.
“You don’t have wings. Not even shadows.” Like the Fallen did. She took a deep breath and fought to keep her voice flat. She didn’t want to give him her fear. “We call—we call those like you the earthbound.” Because no matter what, they weren’t supposed to make it up to heaven. Not while they were still alive, anyway.

The only earthbound who’d ever made it upstairs had been Seline. And Sammael hadn’t been about to let his lady go without a fight.

Sammael.
She could sure use some of his power right then.

You have to get angry enough. You have to want to kill.
That’s what he’d told her, but well, hell,
wanting
to kill wouldn’t help her now. Even if she could summon up that power, the Death Touch never worked on those with angel blood.

Angels weren’t supposed to kill their own kind.

But then again, there was a lot that angels weren’t
supposed
to be doing.

“Earthbound.” Jonathan seemed to be tasting the word. His smile flashed again, and he lifted his hand toward her. “Come. It’s time to leave him behind.”

She wasn’t going anywhere.

“At first, I didn’t realize why I needed to kill.” Jonathan’s voice was smooth, thoughtful. He still offered his hand to her. “I mean, I was only fifteen when I made my first kill. I thought something must be
wrong
with me. I just—I couldn’t stop myself. I found my prey. Stalked him. Made sure he suffered.”

She didn’t want to hear this. But the stiffness of Tanner’s body told her that he was definitely coming around. Now if he’d just use those fierce claws of his . . .

Jonathan’s hand dropped to his side. “He was one of my old foster dads. I was always being bounced around. Fucking abandoned as a kid—why would an angel do that?”

Marna didn’t answer. Not that she had time to talk. Jonathan’s eyes were burning brighter, and his words came faster as he said, “He never should have touched me. I told him . . .
told
him I’d get him back.
Vengeance.
And I did. I found him. I hunted him. I killed him while he begged and screamed.” His breath sighed out. “The first kill, but not the last.”

The way he was talking about vengeance . . . “Your—your mother or father—one of them could have been a punishment angel.” Only the way he’d been killing—that wasn’t the way punishers worked. When they punished, it was never about emotion or payback. It was just . . . duty.

The punishment angels weren’t supposed to enjoy their dark work.

“How many?” Marna asked quietly. The guy wasn’t coming closer to her. She needed him closer. “How many more did you kill over the years?”

“Hundreds.” Said with relish. “Criminals. Thieves. Whores. Murderers. They all needed to be punished, and I was the instrument of that punishment.”

Her mouth was so dry that it hurt to swallow. “How did you know . . . what they’d done?”

He took a gliding step toward her. “I could see the sin on them. Almost smell it.” His gaze dropped to Tanner. “Like I see it on him. Evil. He reeks of it. He’s got blood on him, and it will never wash off.”

Like the crazy jerk in front of her could talk.

“I’m going to kill him for you,” Jonathan promised with a nod. “Just like I killed the others for you.”

For you.
Her heart lurched as she began to fully understand.

The two panther shifters in the alley . . .

“I knew you wanted those animals dead. You tried to do it. I
saw you.
”

A shiver slid over her at his words. She’d felt eyes on her, but she’d thought it had been Tanner watching over her. It had been Jonathan?

“I shot ’em full with one of my special mixes. A quick injection . . .”

Back in the interrogation room, he’d mentioned drugs. The cocky bastard, he’d been
telling
her what he’d done to them.

“They never even had the time to scream.”

No, they’d just had time to die.

Jonathan’s gaze dropped to Tanner’s still body. “He’s the one who led me to you. He was so focused on you, almost addicted. I wondered about the woman who was driving him crazy. Then I saw you. Your wings. And I knew.”

“You knew nothing,” she whispered. Tanner’s body was completely still against her. Still—but tight and tensed for battle. He was ready to attack, she knew it. And when he made his move, those claws of his had better go deep. She stood up, determined to distract Jonathan. She needed to give Tanner the perfect moment to strike. “You don’t know anything about me. I am
nothing
like you.”