by ML Guida
She ran into his arms and kissed him. She whispered something into his ear, but Lethal couldn’t hear what she said. With assassin speed, he darted through the trees to hear her betrayal.
Balthazar nuzzled her throat and held her close.
Her fingers ran through Balthazar’s long hair. “Is that the information you needed?”
Balthazar scanned the forest. “Were you followed?”
She shook her head. “No, why?”
“I sense a veiled power.”
She whirled around, her eyes wide, and stood closer. “Is it...an...an assassin?”
Her voice shook. She should be scared, damn scared.
Balthazar grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. “Whisper the name of the angel—”
Before he could finish, Lethal held out his palm, and Holy Fire shot out of his hand, whipping and crackling over the field.
“Shit! It’s Lethal!” Balthazar cried.
Cora screamed and tried to fly into the air, but the blue flame circled around her, immobilizing her and sending her into convulsions.
Balthazar released her and shook his smoking hand. “Damn you, Lethal.”
Lethal flew onto the field. “Go now, Balthazar, before I give you another ugly sting.” He unleashed his sword, Judgment.
Wariness flared in Balthazar’s eyes, and he edged away, not once trying to free Cora—the coward. Lethal didn’t have the power to kill him—only Michael possessed that power—but he could send him back to hell in a body cast.
“Balthazar, help me.”
“Tell me what I want to know.”
Cora struggled to move her mouth, and a hiss fell out. “Bo...”
Her voice faded.
Lethal frowned. He didn’t know an angel named Bo. He knew all of them by heart. Michael branded their names on each assassin’s heart so if the angel fell they’d be able to track them. Knowing their names aided the assassin in tracking down rogue angels, but was there a hidden one? One Michael hadn’t told him about? You never knew with Michael. He possessed secrets galore.
“Tell me again.” Balthazar stepped closer.
Cora opened her mouth again, but her words died in her throat. Lethal thrust his sword into her back, piercing her heart. She screamed and died, her body impaled on his sword.
“You bastard!” Balthazar yelled.
“What did you promise her?” Lethal yanked Judgment out of Cora’s lifeless body.
She collapsed on the field. Terror reflected in her huge eyes. He hated having to kill her. He always wished there was another way, but she soon would have become a fallen angel, a demon, putting humans and angels alike in danger. The curled feathers of her wings formed a circle around her, and her face turned ashen. Her soul was gone forever.
Balthazar edged away, far from Lethal’s sword. “I swear to you I will avenge her.”
Lethal aimed his bloody weapon at him. “You didn’t even try to save her. Why do you care about her? You’re not exactly the loving type.”
“I don’t have to justify myself to you, Assassin, but beware of this: I’ll repay your dastardly deed by killing your angel-mate.”
Fear slammed into Lethal’s heart. Cupid—he’d never let Balthazar near her. “I don’t have an angel-mate.”
Balthazar laughed. “Fool. Yes, you do. Cora told me many secrets, and I know about the Book of Love. Your name’s in there.”
“All angels’ names are written in there.”
“Yes, but I happen to know that you’ll be mated soon. If you don’t mate, you’ll fade, grow weak. And become vulnerable.” He tilted his head toward Cora’s corpse. “I’ll avenge her death. First, I’ll kill your mate, then kill you.”
He stalked Balthazar. “I’m an assassin. You don’t have the power to kill me.”
“We will see, dear boy. Don’t turn your back.”
Lethal lunged, but the crafty demon disappeared. Lethal’s heart pumped searing energy through his veins. He clutched his sword tight. Balthazar would never touch Cupid. No matter how much Lethal wanted her, as long as he ignored her, she’d be safe.
Dear Reader
I’m delighted you decided to read Punishment. This is the third book in the Angels of Death. Frisco, Colorado is my favorite mountain town and I wanted to write Blade’s story in this beautiful setting. My family has a cabin in Frisco and I tried to weave in some of my frequent haunts. Blade was an interesting character and he needed to redeem himself after committing such terrible crimes in Betrayal.
I love to hear from readers. I am on all the social media sites, (Facebook, twitter@m_mlguida and Good Reads). I respond to emails, Facebook posts and tweets, so don't hesitate to contact me. If you’d like to contact me, you can reach me on my website http://www.mlguida.com/contact/ or you can follow me my blog http://www.mlguida.com/blog/
Book loaning and reviews are ways that readers can help authors get the word out about books they love, so don’t hesitate to spread the word about Betrayal. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.
If you’d like to receive a new email release, please sign up at http://www.mlguida.com/
Sincerely,
M.L. Guida
Other Books by M.L. Guida
If you’ve enjoyed Punishment, the fourth book is Cupid. Cupid, has a terrible secret—she’s color blind. After accidentally shooting her intended target with an aversion arrow, she tries to fix it by a shooting a passion arrow. But Lethal, the sexy angel of death she has had a crush on forever, blocks her path. Shot by passion's arrow, he now thinks he’s in love with her.
Lethal knew Cupid was his angel-mate from the moment he saw her. He’s never claimed her because an angry demon promised murder. But when she shoots him with the arrow he can’t keep his true feelings hidden any longer.
The demon makes good on promise and pursues Cupid, but not to kill her. She has a hidden power he wants, one that Cupid doesn't even know she has. Only true love can unleash her power and by working together, their love will crush the demon bent on destroying them.
I have another paranormal romance series—Legends of the Soaring Phoenix. The first book of the series is A Pirate's Curse. Like a dark angel, Captain Kane O'Brien rescues Hannah Knight and her father from drowning after vampire pirates murder their crew and sink their ship. Struggling to control and hide her telekinetic powers, Hannah discovers the honorable and bold captain possesses his own secrets.
Every full moon, Kane turns into a vampire. Finding out Hannah not to be the cabin boy she resembles, but a beautiful, luscious woman, tempts all his appetites. Desperate to be free of his curse, Kane considers handing Hannah over to a demon. But after Hannah uses her power to save his ship from his immortal enemy, Kane can no longer deny his attraction and vows to protect Hannah with his life.
To find true love, they must combine their powers to defeat evil vampires, thwart Hannah's misogynist fiancé and escape a crafty demon.
The second book of the series is A Pirate’s Revenge. Cursed by a demon, William O’Brien changes into a dragon with mystical powers he can’t control. In dragon form he becomes a ravenous beast with the power to destroy the crew of the Soaring Phoenix. He’s forced to make a decision: leave the ship or face killing the crew.
But before he can go, he discovers a new menace hunts him. The God of the Underworld has released a female demon, more deadly and evil than before, with orders to capture William and combine his powers with a male witch in order to destroy the crew of the Soaring Phoenix.
Mariah Fey, a talented witch, wants only to save her brother from the bowels of the evil pirate ship, the Fiery Damsel. If William will trust her, she can teach him how to harvest his gifts, control his abilities and together their true love can defeat their enemies.
The third book is a novella—A Pirate’s Agony. Washed out to sea by a violent storm, Amadi wakes up on the island of St. Kitt only to be captured by slave traders and sold back to the very same plantation he'd escaped from five years before. But t
he plantation is under the new ownership of a vicious twisted woman and he's trapped until the moon allows him access to his vampire powers. All Amadi has to do is keep his head down and hope no one realizes he is a previously escaped slave, and he'll be able to leave this life far behind. But the full moon is three days away, and horrible things can happen to an enslaved man in three days.
Lovely indentured Violet Perdue cannot tell a lie. If she does, her pale skin breaks out into red scratching blisters. Sold to a twisted plantation owner she is forced by her own skin to reveal Amadi to their vicious owner. Trying to make it up to him, she risks her life to rescue him from the dungeon, but how can she expect him to trust her after her betrayal? Desperate to escape she bargains to be his pirate servant if he'll only steal her away. Tempted by her offer, Amadi agrees, but soon realizes, his little indentured servant has stolen his heart.
I have a new series with Kensington/Lyrical called the Underworld. The first book is Dark Promise. Love can unlock the secret to saving two worlds.
As the Golden Aspen Tree withers, darkness consumes the Dragon Demons of the Underworld, turning them feral. Prince Eric Wyvern must keep his darkness at bay and woo the silver-haired human tainted with angel blood whose touch is prophesied to save the Golden Tree and restore light to the Underworld.
Cassandra Wright, a gifted psychic, has dreamed of Eric her whole life. When her dream lover joins her on a ski vacation, he plunges her into a nightmare. Imprisoned in a dying world filled with abuse and torture, she must become the Demon Prince’s mate or remain trapped forever. If she fails to fulfill the prophecy, the darkness will spread to her world. But how can she give herself to this dark and frightening version of the man of her dreams?
Eric will give Cassandra the world, if only he can make her see past the darkness to the man he really is, and help him save it first.
I also have a paranormal Christmas series called Vampires on Holiday. The first book is A Vampire’s Christmas Wish. Master vampire, Janus Morano, has searched for centuries to find his lost soul mate. When he finally discovers his true love on Christmas Eve in Hawaii, she doesn't know him, doesn't remember her previous life, and doesn’t want him. Janus must get her to remember him and their love, but nothing comes easy with Deirdre Hahn.
Deirdre is drawn to the mysterious dark stranger, but she came to Hawaii with Brandon Delaney, to heal their broken relationship. Brandon has promised to never beat her again, bending over backwards to be Prince Charming. But the promise is broken.
Deirdre escapes Brandon’s clutches and her only hope is the mysterious dark stranger. Janus vows to help her but soon she discovers his dark secret. He's a vampire...a vampire searching for her.
Now Deirdre is caught between two desperate men. Not sure who to trust. In order to save her future she must accept her past and when her Hawaiian vacation falls apart and she’s kidnapped, she must learn to trust Janus or die on Christmas.
The second book is, A Vampire’s Fallen Christmas Star. It’s the week before Christmas but the last thing Jayden Kye wants to do is celebrate. He blames himself for his twin's brother's death. He hikes up to Rainbow Lake to make peace with him, but Jayden slips down a snowy embankment and impales himself on a tree. He is dying.
Eleanor Baines has been a vampire for over a hundred years but she’s never been tempted to turn a human before. Now, facing the sexy rock star, she has a choice, let him die or let him live.
Now, she finds herself with a head-strong rock singer who breaks all the rules.
Jayden discovers everything he thought he knew is wrong. His best friend and lead guitarist are legendary vampire killers bent on killing him and Eleanor. He must learn to trust Eleanor, a total stranger, to survive. When his manager kidnaps Jayden’s mother and threatens to kill her, Jayden is forced to kill his best friend, or hand over the woman he loves.
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Punishment, Angels of Death: © 2016 M.L. Guida
Cover design © Viola Estrella
All rights reserved. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
Issued 2016
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