Angel Kin

by Tricia Skinner

  “I’m not calling down that shit on purpose,” Cain said.

  “Enough.” Tanis pinched the bridge of his nose, his almost waist-length, platinum hair falling over his face. He stared at Cain through the thick, nearly white strands. “While you were out, I sent Jarrid to check on a new tip. A murder was committed last night. We will receive a visit from the witness.”

  “God of All, is it Christmas?” Kas said, echoing his thoughts.

  “Her name is Katie Logan. According to the fireman who phoned, she is his younger sibling. After she shares her story, we will keep her safe.”

  Cain exploded. “So now we’re running a witness-protection program? Shit. There’re Renegades out there and you want us babysitting—”

  “She’s an innocent.” Tanis’s expression hardened.

  Every muscle in Cain’s body locked. The Bound protected innocents as if the term was hot-wired into their DNA. One of the first lessons Tanis had taught them as kids: the innocent deserved champions, even if those champions were abominations in the eyes of Heaven.

  “The witness arrives in one hour.” Tanis walked to a window, effectively ending the meeting.

  Kas and Nesty shared a look, but left without comment. Cain hesitated at the door.

  “The informant made a mistake, but not a fatal one,” the angel said, still staring out the window. “Don’t give in to your dark thoughts, son.”

  Cain’s heart stuttered at the gentle reprimand, but he escaped the study before more was said. He jogged to the gym and found it blessedly empty.

  All his life he’d struggled to absorb Tanis’s ethics and morals, but they both knew he lived with a boiling cauldron of hate; he sometimes wanted to bring pain to the entire world the same way he had received it, with blood and loss.

  “Fuck.” In the locker room he stripped out of his jeans, boots, briefs, and T-shirt. Dressed in only shorts, he skipped stretching and started on the weight machines.

  Time passed under the steady beat of electro-dance music and the clang of steel on steel. Eventually Cain paused and filled his lungs with the gym’s humid air. Sweat stung his eyes, matted his hair, and plastered his shorts to his skin.

  Good old-fashioned strength training and cardio had taken the edge off. Each member of the Bound dealt with the mind-numbing lack of action differently. Kas preferred gadgets. Nesty taught the team’s five Great Danes sign language. Jarrid hung out with his girlfriend, Ionie. Tanis focused on work.

  Cain checked the wall clock and cursed. He stripped as he jogged to the walk-in shower. Sooner than he wished, he exited the stall and toweled off. Dressed in jeans and T-shirt, he made his way to the study.

  Sounds of conversation flowed down the wide staircase as he ascended. He entered the room wired and ready to meet the eyewitness.

  A woman stood in a semicircle of his brother assassins, her back to him, giving Cain a clear view of a long, red braid snaked along her spine. She was on the short side and her flat running shoes didn’t help. He approved of her practical, military-styled pants with multiple zippered pockets, but the pink baby doll shirt had to go.

  Cain cleared his throat and schooled his features. Last thing he needed was to scare the girl speechless. She had information on a murder, and a crime investigation meant he’d have work to occupy his time.

  Tanis gestured for him to step forward. “Katie, this is Cain, the last member of our team.”

  Play nice. The girl had his next job locked in her head.

  She faced him. Her green eyes widened as she stared up at him.

  He forced a half smile and tapered his gaze to appear less intimidating. As tall as Tanis, Kas, and Nesty, and sharing the same physical build, it was the best he could manage.

  A red hue bloomed in her cheeks. He frowned.

  Katie’s mouth opened…

  Cain started to speak.

  And she screamed her head off.

  Chapter Three

  Katie spun away from the one called Cain, past the startled bouncer wannabes and their crispy-winged leader, and flipped her ass over the study’s only desk. The padded corner of a leather chair clipped her knee as she sailed across the flat wooden surface. Surprised shouts rang out, a laptop went flying, but any actual words failed to stop her deafening internal alarms.

  Giant Guy was a member of The Bound Ones.

  Goddamn her crappy luck.

  Katie’s vision tunneled her surroundings. Four book-lined walls. Three windows with nothing to break them. Two sofas. One way out—the door she came through. The door the killer stood in front of.

  Someone touched her arm and she yelped and whirled, fingers scrambling for a solid object. Katie wouldn’t die like Ray. A battle cry on her tongue, she swung blindly, but her weapon, a desk lamp, exploded from her grip.

  “Calm yourself.” The white-haired angel-guy’s voice buzzed her ears like she’d cranked up a radio to full blast. “Kas, dial in and find out why she’s so frightened.”

  “Not good. Fear block. I can’t read her.”

  “I only walked in the room. I didn’t say a word.” Another male voice. One that was scarily familiar.

  Giant Guy. The killer.

  When she’d arrived, she hadn’t thought twice about being escorted upstairs to the study. Jon trusted these men, and she trusted her brother. But now? Surrounded by strangers, Katie clutched her sides, her lungs burning like she’d inhaled smoke. She needed fresh air. Needed one deep breath and the nearest exit.

  Separated from the men by the large desk, she fastened her gaze on the killer. He’d changed clothes since Ray’s house and his short hair was damp. The same tanned angles etched his face, highlighting his silver eyes. “Keep away from me.”

  “Hey, you’re safe. You’re okay. No one’s going to hurt you,” he said in a low tone. The blond giant held up his empty hands, palms out.

  She didn’t say a word and inched her left foot to the side. Ray’s murderer adjusted his body as if to follow, but he made no other move. The damn door was just beyond him, if only she could get past. She couldn’t see all of The Bound at once, but she didn’t dare glance away from the killer to check.

  None of the men in the room so much as twitched. Her breathing calmed and her initial panic subsided into a cold calculation of survival. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a frown tug the corners of Tanis’s mouth. Man, she’d have a few things to tell Jon about trusting strangers.

  “Actually, the odds are in your favor. You can trust all of us, especially the angel,” Kas said.

  Katie jerked her head to the guy who’d spoken. “H-how’d you know what I was thinking?”

  “He has a special talent,” Tanis said. “Kas is a mind reader.”

  “I won’t tell anybody.” Katie sidled closer to an impressive wall of books. “Just let me go. I didn’t see anything. I don’t know anything.”

  “Each of us has an ability.” The guy with rust-colored hair—his name escaped her—pointed at Tanis. “Lie detector.” A quick flip of his thumb at Giant Guy. “Mind control.”

  Goody. She already knew that one.

  “And what do you do, Rusty?” She shifted again.

  “It’s Nesty.” His silver eyes darkened to slate. “Shatter bones with sound.”

  Katie’s exit to freedom landed in her line of sight and she considered the stability of the objects in her way. One good leap on the armchair nearest her and then half a turn—airborne—and she’d make it. A chuckle bubbled out of the mind reading one. Great.

  Kas tapped his chin, slanted his head, and cast her a knowing look. “Hate to burst your bubble, but not even Spiderman would get two inches from that spot before he sucked carpet.”

  Anger stirred the hairs along her neck and arms. She balled her hands, crushing the impulse to walk over to the black-haired brain snooper and sock him in his smart mouth.

  Kas rolled his eyes and turned to Tanis. “Can we call that fireman back and tell him his kid sister needs a time out?”

&nb
sp; Katie sprinted for the door. A curse burst out behind her, but she launched onto the chair, toppling it with her sudden movement. As it fell, she tucked into a midair twist, landed on another chair, and then sprinted for the door like the end of a four-hundred-yard dash.

  And smacked full-force into an African American woman.

  They crashed from the room in a jumble of yelps and flailing body parts, straight toward the second-floor metal railing.

  Jesus, they’d both sail over.

  Katie leaned to the side, hoping to protect the other woman from the worst of the fall, and hit the railing first. Her feet left the floor and the steel bar hooked her midsection, but her body slammed backward into solid stone, forcing the air from her lungs in a painful whoosh.

  She grabbed for her waist, surprised to feel the heat of flesh under her fingers instead of cold marble and relief washed over every inch of her. The arm loosened and, her feet planted on the hard floor. Katie turned.

  The scowling face of Giant Guy sent her heart thrashing against her ribs. Unable to move backward, she stared into his eyes and squared her jaw. Her three brothers had taught her how to protect herself. She brought her knee up with as much force as she could manage but the big jerk shifted his crotch out of the way at the last minute.

  “Enough.” A dark sneer marred his perfect mouth. “You’re clearly suicidal, but you will chill the fuck out.”

  Heat as intense as a sunburn hit her cheeks. The homicidal maniac thought she was crazy? “I’m not a murderer.”

  “No, you’re a pain in the ass.” Annoyance danced across his face. “I’m Cain. You may have missed the part where Tanis introduced me as a member of the team.”

  “I know who you are.” She squirmed in his arms. “Stop touching me.”

  Cain released her so fast she wobbled. He stepped away, but his eyes promised all sorts of payback.

  “Can someone explain why I almost turned into an omelet?” the woman asked.

  Katie had forgotten the new arrival.

  The black woman raised an eyebrow. “You okay, girl?”

  Before she answered, Tanis filled the doorway. “Katie Logan, meet Ionie Gifford.”

  Ionie extended her hand and offered a warm smile. Katie wasn’t in the mood to make friends. A mind reader, a lie detector, a guy who used sound as a weapon, and a murderer. Nope. No future BFFs here.

  “I gotta go.” She turned toward the stairs, but Giant Guy blocked her path. Someone else touched her shoulder and she spun around, heart in her throat and fists raised.

  Ionie gasped and snatched her hand back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, hon.” She kept her voice calm. “These boys make me wanna scream my head off at least three times a week, but they’re good guys. Whatever’s wrong, they’ll help. I promise. Okay?”

  Katie glanced around. The men waited on the landing outside the study. Even Cain had replaced his scowl with benign blankness.

  Curiosity wrestled with her fear. Everyone stared at her like she was bat-shit crazy, and none of them treated Cain like he was a secret serial killer. With effort, she rubbed her tired eyes and forced herself to stare at him.

  He looked the same as she remembered. Good-looking face. Nice hair. Muscles on top of muscles. Tall as a tree. She met his eyes without flinching. Silver, yes, but…softer. Tropical moonlight instead of icicles.

  “You… I saw—”

  “Girl, who are you talking about?” Ionie touched Katie’s shoulder again.

  “Are all of you blind?” she yelled. “I saw him.”

  He was the spitting image of Giant Guy. Her skin burned under his steady gaze and the hair at her nape rose. No, she wasn’t mistaken. Without taking her eyes off him, she stumbled into Ionie.

  “Cain murdered Ray Washington.”

  …

  “Impossible. He was on stakeout on the other side of Detroit.”

  Cain heard Tanis confirm his whereabouts, but the blunt admission felt like a boulder had dropped on his head. How could this girl claim she saw him commit murder? His life had been paint-drying dull for months.

  But her fear was real. No one screamed like she had unless they’d believed their own eyes.

  “Tell us about the man you saw,” Tanis said.

  Crossing his arms, Cain leaned against the exposed brick wall outside the study while Kas moved into position behind her and nodded. He was ready to read her mind and possibly spot small details she had but hadn’t thought to mention.

  Katie wet her lips with her tongue and he tracked the pink dart. Now that he faced her—and she wasn’t flying over furniture in a bid to escape—he could see she was a lot older than she first appeared. Small freckles dotted the bridge of her nose and the swell of her cheeks, but her emerald eyes avoided him. She shoved her hands into deep pockets at her tomboyish hips.

  That should not be sexy. He cleared his throat, and she jumped and inched closer to Ionie.

  Cain didn’t give a damn if he frightened her. She came into his home, accused him of a heinous crime, and now she cowered like he was Jack the Ripper. He fisted his hands and speared her with an annoyed stare. The Bound Ones followed orders, which meant they didn’t off city leaders unless the Directorate sanctioned the hit. And they sure as hell didn’t leave witnesses.

  “Let’s go into the study and sit down.” Ionie smoothed her hand up and down Katie’s back and maneuvered her toward a couch.

  He moved away from the wall, giving the two women enough space to pass him, then cast a questioning glance at Tanis, Kas, and Nesty. His brothers shrugged, but his father’s eyes made him pause.

  Why does he look uneasy? Cain tipped his head and waited, looking for his father to give him a word or a gesture, but Tanis averted his eyes and passed him.

  In the study, Ionie and Katie righted the chairs, Nesty used his arm to brush the remains of the lamp onto the floor, and he chose a spot across from the love seat where Ionie now sat with Katie. Anticipation of a real mission soared in his gut.

  “Where were you during the murder?” Tanis asked.

  Katie rubbed her palms on her jeans. “Hiding in a coat closet. They didn’t know I was in the house.”

  Cain didn’t need angel juice to read that tell. The woman hid something.

  “Ray, uh, the councilman, wanted to hire my band.” Her gaze strayed to Tanis and then shifted away. She shoved her hands into her pockets. “We landed a spot in a local festival. Ray wanted to talk about sponsoring us.”

  Now that part of her story was clearly a lie. Why was she in the house before the homeowner? Kas subtlety shook his head. In her panic Katie must have forgotten what his brother could do, or she would cut this crap and give it to them straight.

  Tanis’s brow slanted, but the angel didn’t call her out.

  No, Cain suspected his father would wait and see how deep a pit she’d dig. He flicked a glance to his brothers. If The Bound became mixed up in any questionable bullshit, like helping someone who was doing something illegal, the Directorate could use the situation to tighten their control over them. The angel board already believed Tanis allowed them too much freedom.

  Katie blew out a breath, straightened her back, and then continued her story. Strength returned to her voice the more she talked. Her shoulders followed, until she seemed to pull herself together.

  “Ray told Cain he didn’t have all the votes the Renegades wanted,” she finished. “He needed more time.”

  The air sucked out of the room like the air conditioner had reversed.

  Son of a bitch. Renegades.

  This was the break the team needed. The months of downtime. The lack of orders. The feeling that Heaven was either holding out on its own assassins, had stopped trusting them, or had forgotten them. He didn’t know why the hell those fallen assholes had decided Detroit was a good place to visit, but he damn sure wanted to give them a proper welcome.

  “Tell us everything you heard,” Tanis said.

  Katie looked from one man to the next, the
n faced Cain. “He told Ray to stab himself. And Ray did. I swear to God, he grabbed the knife from Cain and bawled like a baby, but he did it. He stabbed himself, over and over.”

  Cain swore under his breath. Every time his name left her lips, he wanted to scream that it wasn’t him, but there was no point. Renegades were the ones who possessed full-blown angel Grace and didn’t suffer pain from using their abilities like he and the rest of The Bound did. The centuries of separation from Heaven may have turned their wings black and kept them from recharging their powers easily, but those bastards had more than enough juice to force a man to harm himself.

  “Did the killer seem unusual?” Tanis asked.

  “Apart from telling a man to stab himself? Why do you keep asking stupid questions? I told you Cain is the guy who killed Ray. Are you all mental?”

  Cain scowled at her. Controlling minds was his signature ability, but not unique. “Show the angel some respect. He’s doing his job.”

  Her skin reddened, and she opened her mouth, but his brother interrupted.

  “And why are you so certain the murderer was Cain?” Kas asked, his voice deceptively light. “You were hiding. Scared. You could be wrong.”

  “I don’t believe this.” Katie grabbed her head, her fingers tangling in the strands. “Giant Guy looked like him because it was him. Same hair, same body type, same silver eyes. The whole package.”

  Tension threatened to snap Cain’s muscles in half. Tanis crossed the room to his desk. “You’re saying the killer is angel-kind?”

  “I know who I saw.”

  Kas swore. “In her memories, she believes she saw…you.”

  Cain didn’t know where the sensation of drowning came from. His chest rose and fell, but his insides were waterlogged. To hell with this bullshit. He stomped over to the couch and yanked her up.

  “You’re wrong.” He all but growled at her, but didn’t get the effect he’d expected. Katie didn’t cower.

  “Fine,” she yelled, fighting his grip on her arm. “If Giant Guy isn’t you, then you have an evil twin.”

  Cain released his hold and reared back as if Katie had shoved a knife into his heart. She couldn’t know the power of that word.