Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(50)
Author: Cynthia Eden

A perfect snack. Or plaything.

Zorra. Slut. He still couldn’t rise. His whole body felt weighted down, and moving made his head ache. He’d find her. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was track. He’d find her, and he’d make her pay.

A low growl came from the darkness.

Javier tensed. The last thing he needed was an attack right then. He was so weak that his claws wouldn’t even come out.

When I find her, I’ll cut every inch of skin off her body. She’d beg for death, just like the others had.

Another growl, but this one sure was much closer. “Back the f**k off!” Javier tried to roar, but the words barely rumbled out of his throat. He tilted back his head. No way would he bow before another shifter—

No one was there.

His eyes narrowed. His sight was five times better than any other coyote in the area. But right then, he didn’t see a damn thing.

But I smell fire. Ash.

Death.

The ground began to tremble. Fear had his heart racing too fast and his blood chilling in his veins. Javier opened his mouth to beg—

But invisible claws ripped into his throat.

Sam stared at the body on the ground. The blood puddled beneath the man, dark and still so fresh. The scent of death hung heavily in the air.

So did brimstone. Seline and her hound had been at work.

His gaze slid over the dark earth. He’d learned to track long ago when he studied with a Native American hunter who could find anyone, anytime. Sam had followed the Jeep out to that desolate spot and found death.

Not what he expected. Had the hound been protecting Seline again? Had she summoned the beast?

He stared at the markings in the dirt. Seline had turned the vehicle around here, then she’d driven north, toward the lights of the town. His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what her next move would be.

If you were a succubus low on energy, where would you go?

To the loudest, raunchiest bar you could find.

Seconds later, the motorcycle hurtled toward those shining lights.

The bouncer didn’t make the mistake of trying to keep Sam out of the club. He just wisely stepped to the side, and Sam followed the pounding music inside El Diablo. Fitting name. The place was packed with Other. Shifters—he caught the flash of their claws. Vamps—two were drinking in the back corner. Demons—so many black eyes filled the room.

Humans mixed with them. Aware? Or just blind? Maybe both.

Dancers twisted in cages that rose above the wooden floor. Lights flashed in a swirling circle. And he didn’t see Seline.

Fuck. He’d been so sure she’d come here. A dozen clubs lined the strip. He’d found the abandoned Jeep, so he’d known that she came this way. He just didn’t know exactly which bar she’d gone into once she’d gotten off the street.

The couple on the right began to claw at each other’s clothing.

The man and woman on his left were nearly f**king right in front of him.

Sam stilled. Damn that was sure one whole lot of sexual energy. An unnatural degree, even for the Other.

Seline.

He looked up, up again . . . and stared harder at the woman who’d just entered the cage lined with steel bars.

She was alone in the cage. The other dancers had vanished. She wasn’t dancing. Her long, blond hair hung loosely around her shoulders. Her arms were up, and she seemed to be pulling energy right from the crowd.

Because she was.

He grabbed the ladder that led to that cage. The music kept pumping behind him, and now he could feel the sensual power in the air. Not normal. Far from it.

Her. Something was different about Seline tonight. He’d never felt this particular rush of power around her. His body was suddenly on edge. His heart raced too fast in his chest.

He leapt into the cage. She didn’t whirl to face him. Didn’t do anything but stand there with her arms up. This close, he could see that her hips were swaying softly in a sensuous flow that made him ache.

He stepped toward her.

“Leave, Sam.” She spoke in a way he’d never heard before. Pure sex. Temptation. Sin.

She might have just ordered him to leave, but his body was determined to stay.

“Seline.” Her name came out raw and hungry.

The music flared louder.

Slowly, so slowly, she turned to face him. She looked . . . different. Eyes smoky. Lips plumper, redder, skin so translucent that it glowed. He looked at her and wanted.

But that part—well, the want wasn’t exactly new for him.

“I’m not playing tonight,” she whispered, but he could easily hear her over the crowd. “Tonight I’m taking all the power that I want, and if you come any closer, I will drain you dry.”

This wasn’t the Seline he knew. “You don’t drain people, remember?”

But she smiled, and an evil grin should never have been so sexy. “Why don’t you find the shifter who gave me a ride and see what he has to say?”

Sam blinked. “I already found what was left of him.” And he hadn’t expected that.

“He wanted to cut me open.” Her chin lifted. “Coyotes always think blood and sex mix.”

Fury spiked his power and sent the cage rocking on the narrow chain that held it secured to the ceiling. “So you cut the bastard open in return?”

She blinked, and some of the glow seemed to dim from her skin. “Cut him? I-I didn’t cut him!”

“I found him with his throat torn open.”

Shock rippled across her face, and she stumbled back.

She hadn’t known. That definitely put a spin on things—and made it look like Keenan had been right.

“I didn’t . . .” She shook her head. “I just . . . I kissed him.”

A snarl broke from Sam’s lips, and in an instant, he was before her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her onto her toes. “Did you f**k him?”

“Didn’t have to . . . didn’t want to. I can drain with a kiss.” Then she leaned up and kissed him.

Lust roared through his blood. His head swam with a burst of euphoria. Want, need, pleasure . . . the rush of sensations filled his body, and he kissed her harder, deeper.

She pushed against him, her ni**les tight, her body soft. And still she kept kissing him. Hot, openmouthed, drugging kisses.

I can drain with a kiss.

He couldn’t hear the music anymore. Couldn’t hear the thunder of the crowd. She was the only thing he knew. The only thing he wanted.

Her tongue slid against his.

He wanted her naked. He wanted to drive into her and make her forget anyone that had come before—any man who’d had her before.