by Cynthia Eden
She swallowed. “Bastion, this isn’t . . .” You.
He glided closer to her with a powerful movement of the black wings that sprouted from his back. “Everything is changing. Up there and down here.” He stood just a foot away from her now.
Marna found that she was backing away from him.
His eyes narrowed at her movement. “Are you afraid of me?”
She shouldn’t be. He’d been her confidant for centuries. The closest thing to a friend that she had. But the way he looked at her—yes. “Have you been watching me?” Marna whispered the words and was afraid of the answer that she knew would be coming.
Bastion had always been far more powerful than she was. If he hadn’t wanted her to see him—
Then I wouldn’t have seen him.
But she’d still caught his scent in the air a few times. Felt eyes upon her.
“The shifter is the one who watched you. Who followed you when you didn’t know.”
His words made her hesitate. But how would he know that about Tanner? Unless he’d been there, too.
“He’s hunted you.” Bastion was even closer now. Close enough for his wings to stretch out. To block the light. To surround her. “And yet you let him fuck you.”
She flinched away as a cold horror filled her. Bastion had watched that? Why? Why would he—
“Marna!”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed at Tanner’s shout. “He’s not going to save you. He’ll betray you. Destroy you. Just as he’s destroyed so many others.”
But Bastion stepped back, and Tanner ran to her. Her shifter grabbed her hand, pulling her close. His heart pounded, and she felt the fast rhythm beneath his chest. “I heard you scream,” he growled the words. “I heard and—” He stopped, breaking off abruptly.
Marna tilted her head back as she stared up at his face. His eyes had narrowed, and they drifted around the small clearing. Drifted, and seemed to stop directly on Bastion.
Because the angel was still there. Watching them with a gaze gone hard and cold. Not burning any longer.
Ice.
“We aren’t alone,” Tanner said with absolute certainty.
Yet he couldn’t see Bastion, she knew that.
His nostrils widened even as his head inclined to the left.
Shifters didn’t have to rely on just what they could see. Not when their other senses were in overdrive 24-7.
Tanner wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. “What does he want?”
He. Bastion. Tanner’s senses were definitely on target. “I’m not completely sure,” she said as she stared straight at Bastion. Truth, but . . .
Part of her was afraid that maybe, just maybe, Bastion wanted—
Me.
The whisper slid through her. An uncomfortable suspicion because, now that she’d been with Tanner, she could understand what she’d seen in Bastion’s stare.
Need. Desire.
Lust.
Angels don’t lust.
Or did they?
Bastion had retreated and she thought he would leave, but suddenly, he marched right toward them.
No. Marna shoved Tanner back. She put her body between his and Bastion’s. “Don’t even think about it.” Her voice came out as a low, furious order.
Bastion stilled.
“Think about what?” Tanner demanded from behind her.
Marna kept her eyes on Bastion. She wouldn’t look over the angel’s shoulder, at that burned ground that marked her change. She stared into his eyes, saw all that she’d lost, and knew that she wasn’t losing anything else. “You won’t touch him.”
Bastion’s eyes widened. “You’d protect the animal?”
Marna nodded. Tanner wasn’t an animal.
“What the hell is happening?” Tanner demanded. “I can smell him. I just can’t see the bastard.”
Most folks wouldn’t describe angels as bastards. Then again, Tanner wasn’t in that “most” category.
“I just want you to be safe,” Bastion said, and a muscle flexed along the length of his jaw. Another sign of emotion. Did he even realize how close he was to the edge?
“Don’t worry about me,” Marna told him. “Take care of yourself.” She wanted to touch him. To grab him and hold tight and shake him. This wasn’t the Bastion she’d known. “You have too much to lose.”
Bastion glared at Tanner. “I’ve already lost.”
Wind seemed to whip around them. Tanner swore. “If that asshole wants to play . . .”
Tanner couldn’t play with a death angel. Not and come out still living. No one could win that particular game.
“I’m trying to help you,” Bastion snapped as the wind beat harder. He was losing control. Breaking apart right in front of her. His wings stretched. Flapped. “He’s nothing but a danger to you. If he’s not stopped, he’ll destroy you.”
Marna lifted her chin. Angels don’t lie. Yet she trusted Tanner. So where did that leave her? “You aren’t touching him.” Bastion was now the leader of the death angels. Refusing his order would be unheard of among their kind. Turning against him? An unforgiveable act.
But . . .
But she wasn’t in heaven anymore. And so far, only one person had been there for her since her fall. There to keep her safe. To fight for her.
Maybe it was time for her to start fighting for him.
“You can’t stop Death.” Bastion began to rise into the air. A faint smile twisted his lips. “You know that better than most.”
Damn him.
He vanished.
And Marna finally took a deep breath.
“He’s gone.” Tanner’s voice. Growling. Tense.
She managed a nod.
He turned her toward him. Glared down at her. “What the hell is going on?”
You’ve got a death angel who wants you cold in the ground. She couldn’t lie, but that didn’t mean that she had to tell the truth. “It was just a visit from an old friend.” A warning visit. “Someone who’s worried about me.”
His hands were on her arms. His warm fingers curled around her flesh. “An old friend makes you scream in fear?”
“Yes.” Truth. “When you have old friends like I do.” She should tell him more. “Tanner, I—”
His mouth took hers. His tongue slid past her lips and thrust into her mouth.
After a moment’s hesitation, she kissed him back. She wanted the rush of passion that he could give her. She wanted to forget Bastion and the nightmare memories that waited on that far bank. Marna kissed Tanner with all her passion and felt the wild surge of desire inside her. The lust she felt for him could banish any chill.
His hands slid over her body. Found her ass. Curled and pulled her up against him. There was no mistaking the hard bulge of his arousal. “You’re not going back to the angels.” He whispered the words near her lips. “That’s not your life anymore.”
No. She couldn’t go back. Without her wings, there’d be no way for her to ever get to heaven.
Lost.
His head lifted and his gaze blazed at her. “You’re mine now.”
Marna shook her head. No, she wasn’t. She belonged only to herself, not to—
Tanner kissed her again. She opened her lips and her tongue met his because she liked his taste and loved the heat that spilled through her at his touch. But . . .
Not his.
She wouldn’t belong to another. Not even to someone like Tanner. She’d watched too many humans over the centuries. Belonging led to pain. Betrayal.
If he’s not stopped, he’ll destroy you.
She wouldn’t forget Bastion’s words.
One more hard press of his mouth, and Tanner pulled back. “We have to go.” His gaze darted behind her. To the blackened ground. His stare hardened. “Cody’s out there, and he’s running from who the hell knows what.” His fingers twined with hers. “We have to hurry, we—” Tanner stiffened and spun around.
They weren’t alone any longer—and
this time, their visitor wasn’t an angel. Marna didn’t know the woman who stalked so slowly from the woods, but she had two men beside her. Marna recognized those men—shifters. They’d been in this swamp before.
That long ago night, when her wings had been ripped away, they’d been there.
Laughing.
Panther shifters.
“Captain?” Tanner faced the new threat. His claws were out. “What are you doing here?”
The woman, petite, with dark brown hair, offered them a smile. As she came closer, the shifters behind her began to change into beasts with snarls and cracks and snaps of their bones.
“I’m here to apprehend an angel.” The woman pointed at Marna. “A wanted killer.”
Tanner shook his head. “Jillian, we’ve been over this—”
She laughed. The sound was cold and bitter and sliced through the night. “I don’t give a damn if she’s innocent or not, Chance. Angels are worth too much money to walk away from, especially weak little things like her who can’t get up enough power to hurt anyone.”
There was a badge clipped to the woman’s belt. This Jillian, she was a cop? Like Chance?
“Everyone wants angel blood,” Marna muttered, disgusted and sick of being on the menu. “Can’t you all just leave me alone?”
“It might not matter upstairs.” The woman’s voice was still as cool as you please. “But down here, money talks. As much as I’ll get for you . . . hell, I can buy forgiveness for anything I do.”
“You’re a cop!” Tanner shouted.
The others had completely shifted. Transformed into big, hulking panthers with yellowed, razor-sharp teeth.
“I’m a demon first.” She pulled out her gun. Aimed it at him. “In all the time that I’ve watched you at the PD, you just never seemed to get that. We’re paranormals first, not cops. The humans . . . they’re second to what we need.”
The panthers began to creep forward. Their heads were low to the ground. Their big bodies tense. Two panthers, and one demon with a gun.
They could handle this, right? They’d taken out those vampires, and these odds had to be better.
“You might as well give her over to us,” the woman—Jillian—said. “She’s worth so much, the supernaturals won’t stop coming until she’s dead. A helpless angel.” She laughed again. That high-pitched laugh was getting on Marna’s last nerve. “That’s like throwing a child into a pool of sharks.”
Marna felt the now familiar pulse of fire push through her body. She lifted her hands and hoped the flames wouldn’t desert her again. Only one way to find out.
But who was the bigger threat? The demon? Or the shifters? “You’ve been misinformed.” Marna’s voice came out a little shaky. Okay, a lot. Whatever. Do this. “I’m not helpless.”
“Not when you’re standing behind the big, bad shifter.” Jillian smirked. “But what will you do when he’s not there to protect your ass? Can’t fly away.” Her lips pursed in a smirk. “Not anymore.”
One of the panthers growled and swiped out at Marna. Tanner lunged and pulled her back, and his own claws flashed.
He’d need to shift in order to fight the other two panthers. He’d be weak while he shifted.
But not if she was covering his back.
“Run,” Marna told the demon. The woman’s green eyes had faded to black. “This is your only chance.” She was trying to give her a fair warning.
Instead of heeding that warning, Jillian fired on her.
The bullet never hit.
Because in that same instant, Marna lifted her hands and sent out a wall of fire. The fire circled her and Tanner, closing them in—but keeping the others out. The fire raged so hot that the bullet melted, vanishing in the inferno.
Power, pulsing heat, poured from Marna. “I’m not weak!” she screamed. Too many thought of her that way. All the supernaturals who wanted to cut her open and drain her dry. Even all the angels upstairs, the ones who used to whisper about her. The ones who’d thought she wasn’t strong enough to do the job of a death angel.
The panthers jumped back, hissing as they cringed away from the fire.
The demon didn’t move. She would move, though. Marna would make her move.
With a wave of her hand, Marna sent the fire flying toward that demon. But the cop laughed again. The woman tossed her left hand up toward the blaze. “I’ve been playing with fire since I was five years old.”
The flames died before they touched the cop’s skin.
Marna sucked in a deep breath. Okay, so the fire wouldn’t work on the demon. But the shifters couldn’t control the flames.
She lifted her hands toward them, palms out. These two jerks had been in her nightmares because they’d been there that night with Brandt. “The next time a woman is bleeding on the ground”—fury pumped inside of her—“don’t just stand there and laugh.” Fire exploded in two streams. One from her right hand. One from her left. The blazing trails ripped right toward the two shifters.
They jumped back, but the fire singed their fur. Oh, she could do a lot more than just singe them, she could—
“Give her to me,” Jillian yelled. “Stop the bitch’s fire and give her to me, or your brother is dead.”
Wait—what?
She felt Tanner’s start of surprise. The circle of fire around them had vanished, courtesy of that demon.
And now she was talking about Cody? Threatening him?
“Bullshit,” Tanner called as he lunged forward with his claws out. “And you’re a disgrace to the PD.”
The cop scrambled away a few feet. The panthers had retreated to stand at her side. “I’m in the PD to protect my own kind. Same as you should be. You think I’m just gonna stand there and let the humans lock up demons?” Her hair slid over her shoulders as she shook her head. “Not on my watch.”
Marna’s flames had scorched the earth. The pulsing fire— that feeling of power that surged beneath her skin—it was starting to die away.
No, no, she couldn’t lose that power again!
Can’t be weak.
“You think these are the only two I brought with me?” Jillian put her hand on the head of one of the panthers. “I was hunting your brother. I knew he’d be the key to breaking you.”
Tanner’s only blood relative. The man he’d always protected. Yes, Marna knew he’d do anything for Cody.
Even trade me?
It was Marna’s turn to back up a step.
Tanner didn’t move. “I don’t know why you teamed up with these assholes, but it was a bad move.”
Jillian shrugged. “They needed an alpha. I needed some fangs and claws to get the job done.”
Marna’s gaze searched the trees. She didn’t see anyone—anything—else out there. Was the cop bluffing?
“My men caught Cody’s scent, just the same as you did.” Jillian’s hand was still on the panther’s head. What? Did the lady think they were some kind of pets? Didn’t she know shifters would just as soon bite the hand that fed them? That they liked to bite that hand? But, calm as you please, Jillian continued, “Except they didn’t give up the chase once they heard an angel scream. My men kept going. They’ve got him now, and unless you want to be trying to sew the pieces of him back together, then you’ll step away from the angel.”
A bluff. Tanner wasn’t stepping away from her, and Marna knew that he had to realize—
He stiffened. “You bitch.” There was a dark mix of fury and hate in his voice. “I can smell his blood.”
Oh, no. That meant—no bluff.
Then Marna heard it. The sound of thrashing in the bushes. Grunts. Three men burst from the darkness. She recognized Cody’s bloody form instantly. But the others? She’d never seen them before, but with one look, she knew they were shifters. It was rather hard to miss those fangs and claws.
Cody was barely on his feet. Stumbling. Slashes covered most of body. “I didn’t . . . scream,” he managed to say.
No, he hadn’t screamed. She had. She�
�d screamed, and Tanner had come running to her side. And he’d left Cody alone in the dark.
“My kind have a weakness,” Jillian said with a tsk. “Some of us can’t handle our drugs, and some can’t handle the alcohol. One drunken night, your brother just had to run his mouth in Hell about the pretty little angel his brother was keeping so close.”
That pulse of power began to build within Marna once more. She could feel it, like a surge growing inside of her. If that surge got strong enough, she could blast at the shifters holding Cody. Free him.
One of the shifters sank his claws into Cody’s throat. “One move,” the shifter warned and his eyes were on Marna, “just one, and I rip his throat open.”
Cody moaned, trying to speak.
He couldn’t.
“You know I will, man,” the shifter continued with a grim smile. “Because you fuckin’ know me.”
Marna hadn’t seen this shifter before, but was he also a part of Brandt’s old pack?
“I know you don’t want to screw with me right now,” Tanner said. “Because if you do, Russell, I’ll make you beg for death.”
Russell’s face tightened. “You always thought you were such a badass.” His claws drew more blood from Cody’s throat. “Who’s the fuckin’ badass now?”
“You’ve made the wrong move here,” Tanner snarled.
Marna caught the sweet scent of flowers, and her shoulders stiffened. An angel was there. She hadn’t seen him—or her—yet, but a death angel was on the scene.
Some of them wouldn’t be leaving alive.
What would Tanner do if Cody was the one to die?
The one called Russell could kill Cody long before her fire reached the guy’s flesh.
“Step away from her, Chance. Give us the angel, and you”—Jillian pointed to Cody—“and your brother can both walk away.”
“I’m supposed to buy that?” His voice mocked her. Called her an idiot.
Jillian’s face tensed. “If you don’t, I’m killing him in five . . .” She held up her hand and continued counting. “Four . . .”
Tanner raced forward, but the two shifted panthers at Jillian’s side jumped for him. They met in a tangle of claws and teeth and fury and blood.
“Three . . .”
Jillian’s gaze wasn’t on Tanner. It was on Marna. “Wanna try some of that fire again?” Jillian asked. “Maybe you’ll have better luck this time. Then again, maybe you won’t.”
