Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(40)
Author: Cynthia Eden

But this was different. He’d caught the scent, and he knew. “It’s one of our own,” he snapped at Sam. “One of our own is gunning for me.”

“Where are you?” Sam didn’t sound surprised or worried. Nothing new there. Emotions were supposed to hit angels when they fell to earth, but Tomas hadn’t noticed that Sam ever felt much of anything—other than boredom.

“Anahuac.” He’d been sinning his way through most of Mexico. What was the point of falling if you couldn’t enjoy some sin? “At a rundown dump of a motel three miles from the main cantina. Are you in New Orleans? Are you—”

“I’m in Laredo. I can be there to meet you in a few hours.”

Something thudded into his door. Something very hard and very big.

His hand clenched around the phone. “I don’t think I’ve got that long.”

The door began to splitter apart.

I don’t have any time at all. The devil was already at his door.

The line went dead. Sam stared down at his phone. He’d known Tomas was in Mexico, but the Fallen didn’t exactly move with the times. Having a cell phone would have been too much to ask of Tomas . . . Maybe next time you’ll buy a phone so I can warn you when a psychotic bastard is picking us off.

If there was a next time.

He glanced at Seline. “We’ve got to go.”

Seline’s delicate face was tense. “Another Fallen?”

Sam nodded. “And Tomas knows that he’s being hunted.” Which meant they didn’t have much time. Judging by the way that call had ended—not much time at all.

They dressed and ran for the door. Sam spared only one glance for the heavens above him. Blood-red.

Sailors thought that sign mistakenly meant a storm was coming.

It really meant an angel was dying. You could always see the blood in the sky before it hit the ground.

He jumped on the motorcycle. Seline wrapped her arms around him.

I’m coming, Tomas.

But he was afraid he wouldn’t be fast enough.

CHAPTER TEN

More demons met them in Anahuac. One man, one woman—both with matching grim expressions carved on their faces.

Sam pulled into the dusty motel parking lot. The guy seemed to have connections all over Mexico, connections that he used without even the slightest hesitation. The demons had guided them to the motel. It seemed they’d heard screams but had arrived too late.

Too late.

The place appeared deserted, probably not a good sign. No other cars were in the lot, and the door to the motel’s main entrance swayed drunkenly in the breeze. It looked like even the desk clerk had cut and run.

Seline walked slowly toward room 12. The door had been busted down. Shards of wood littered the ground. She stepped over the wood and crept just inside the entranceway. The room itself was a total wreck. Furniture smashed. Bed overturned. Mattress slashed.

But no dead Fallen.

No Fallen at all.

“You think he left willingly?” One of the demons asked from behind her.

Seline’s gaze darted around the chaos of the room. “Doubtful,” she muttered. But this wasn’t like the other scenes. The victims hadn’t been taken away. They’d been slaughtered where they stood.

Sam had entered the room seconds before her, and now he crouched near the window. His fingers were smoothing over what looked like deep grooves in the floor.

She inched closer to him. Very deep grooves. The kind of grooves that were made when something clawed the floor.

Just as something had clawed the other victims. “A Fallen couldn’t do that,” she said.

He looked up at her with a hooded gaze. “No.”

“Shifter?” Her best guess.

“Only one with very big claws.”

My what big claws you have . . .

The better to rip you wide open.

She took a slow breath. Did folks even realize that the old Red Riding Hood tale was based on truth? A hungry wolf had gone after Red one day. No matter what the stories said, she hadn’t made it back to Grandma’s house in one piece.

“A bear?” Yeah, bears had big claws. She frowned at those claw marks. They’d sunk deep into the wood, and they were so wide. “A tiger?”

“It’d have to be something bigger.”

That wasn’t good to hear.

Sam stalked toward the open door. The demons backed up, being sure to give him plenty of room. Smart demons. Sunlight fell on him and threw shadows in his wake. His hands rose to his sides, stretching far out, and he looked for all the world like he was trying to feel—

“He hasn’t gone far.”

The demons glanced at each other. Seline ignored them and crossed to Sam. She touched his shoulder, being careful not to let her fingertips reach his scars. “How do you know?”

He turned his head, and his gaze met hers. “Before he fell, Tomas was a guardian. Guardians always leave a distinct trail in their wake.”

A guardian angel—those were supposed to be the nice ones. Pity she’d never had a guardian on her side. “You actually see this trail?” She rose onto her toes and peered over his broad shoulders.

“No, I feel it.” He caught her hand and pressed a quick kiss to the back of her palm. “And I want you to stay here while I go find him.”

“Bad plan,” she said immediately with a hard shake of her head. “Where you go, I go, remember?”

He stared back at her, face determined. “I’m not going far, and I don’t want you out in the open while I hunt.”

Still, bad. “But I don’t want to be a sitting duck!” Az was after her. What if he decided to pop back in while Sam was gone? He’d already used that separate-and-attack technique before. She didn’t want to give him another shot at her.

Sam jerked his thumb toward the demons. “They’ll watch your back.”

Like she trusted them. Never trust a demon you don’t know—her motto. And even then . . . be careful. Since she had demon blood, she knew just how tricky her so-called brothers and sisters could be. “I want to come with you. I can—”

“You’ll slow me down.”

Blunt and pretty brutal. She managed not to flinch, but she was pretty sure her cheeks heated. “I’m not without power, you know.”

“But you can’t come close to fighting the ones hunting out there.”

Did any more of her pride need a hit? Maybe he should just call her useless. Sure, her demon power scale might not be the best, but she could fight in other ways. Like she hadn’t spent years fighting Other.