Avenging Angel (The Fallen #4)(22)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He knew what she had planned. And she’d tried so hard to hide her stake. “I always was.” She’d never asked to be—death had been all she’d ever known.

“Baby . . .” He sighed and angled closer to her. “Why don’t you let me do the dirty work for you?” Then he grabbed Riley and ripped the vamp away from her. “I don’t mind getting my hands bloody.”

And his claws were out.

So was her stake. She’d leapt forward at the same instant. Tanner’s claws were at the vamp’s throat, but her stake was at Riley Kane’s heart.

“Fuck me,” Riley snarled. “Can’t anyone just donate a little angel blood anymore?”

“Tell us who killed those shifters,” Tanner demanded. “And you can walk out of here with your body mostly intact.”

Mostly?

But then Tanner stiffened and swore.

When Riley’s smile flashed, Marna knew they were in trouble. The vampire’s stare cut her way. “I never expected you to come alone. Not when you’ve got that possessive shifter who guards you so closely.”

Tanner’s nostrils flared. “Five . . . six . . .”

Marna heard the soft footsteps behind her and knew that he was counting the number of vamps heading their way.

“Six,” Riley agreed with a slow nod. “You see, I didn’t come alone either.”

“Like backup is gonna make a difference for you,” Tanner muttered; then he slammed Riley’s head back into the brick wall and whirled to grab Marna’s hand. “Stay behind me!”

The vamps were racing toward them now. Fangs bared, their own claws out and ready to rip and tear.

Marna heard the sound of popping bones. Snapping. Breaking. Tanner was shifting, but while he shifted—

He was vulnerable.

His kind was always at their most vulnerable mid-shift. And the vamps knew that. They attacked. Their claws raked across his skin. His blood splashed onto the walls of the alley and dripped onto the ground.

“No!” Marna screamed and lunged for Tanner. But Riley caught her and jerked her back.

His arms locked around her as he shouted to his men, “Make sure he doesn’t follow us!”

The stake was still in her hand. Clenched tight. Had Riley forgotten about her weapon? If so, dumb mistake.

The vamps were swarming around Tanner now. She could barely see him. “Let him go!”

Riley lowered his head toward her throat. Inhaled deeply. “Maybe I’ll go ahead and take that bite.”

Marna spun around and shoved her stake into his chest. Not into his heart—he’d moved to deflect her blow, but she still drove that stake into him as hard as she could.

His eyes widened, and he began to yank at the stake.

Marna leapt away from him. Tanner. She had to save Tanner. There was so much blood on the ground. Too much. And she could hear the panther now, grunting in pain.

“Get away from him!” Marna yelled again as she raised her hands. “Get. Away.” A blast of fire shot out from her fingertips and flew at the pack of vamps.

Two caught on fire instantly. They screamed and fell to the ground, rolling desperately as they tried to put out the flames. Smoke drifted in the air around them.

The panther slashed out with his claws and cut the throat of another vamp.

More blood.

The scent of death hung heavily in that alley.

Marna stared at her fingers. Powerful angels could control fire, only she hadn’t been able to raise the flames. Not since she fell, anyway.

But now . . .

A vamp raced toward her. A redhead with hate twisting his face. “I’m gonna drain you—”

“No, you’re not.” She raised her hands again. “But you will burn.”

The flames slammed into him. Directed. Intense. The scent of burning flesh had her stomach churning.

The other vamps were struggling with Tanner. The panther had left them bloody and weak, and they were trying desperately to hold him off.

It looked like he was going in for the kill.

She caught a light floral scent in the air. Marna knew what that telling scent meant. A death angel was close. One who’d come to ferry souls.

So who would be dying in that alley?

Not me. The vamps were the ones biting the dust.

She rushed to Tanner’s side. A charred vamp tried to slash out at her with his claws. She didn’t move fast enough, and he ripped into her skin, tearing a bloody path down her side. Even as Marna cried out, the black panther attacked. He sank his razor-sharp teeth into the vampire’s throat.

She looked away, not wanting to see the rest. But she knew that particular vampire wouldn’t be rising again.

The others fled the alley. They left behind only blood and death.

The panther bumped into her side. Marna trembled. His head came nearly to her shoulders. Fully beast, so primal, but when she looked into his eyes, she saw a man’s gaze staring back at her.

And she saw a dead vampire at her feet. No, not dead, not yet.

The shadows around the vampire thickened. She lifted a hand, holding her bleeding side, and watched as the large, black wings of a death angel appeared from the darkness.

Angels marked by despair always had black wings. Death angels. Punishers. The most powerful of the angels, they were the ones that humans should fear.

The ones that could make even paranormals shudder.

The vampire stared up at the angel. Since the moment of his final death was at hand, he’d be able to see those broad, dark wings now. And he’d see the hard, carved features of the angel that she knew as—

Bastion?

Her breath froze in her lungs. It was him. Tall, strong, one of the few angels gifted with golden eyes—eyes the same color as the burnished gold that adorned the home in heaven she’d never see again.

She hadn’t seen Bastion in weeks. After she’d lost her wings, he’d tried to help her at first.

Then vanished when he realized there wasn’t any help to give.

He bent his dark head and gazed down at the vampire. Bastion hadn’t said anything to her. Hadn’t even looked her way.

It hurt. He knew she was there. Because of what she was, he also knew she’d be able to see him.

And he didn’t look at her. In heaven, he’d been her closest confidant. Now he couldn’t stand the sight of her?

“How the hell did you do that?” Tanner demanded as he reached for her. His arms caught her shoulders and he spun her around to face him. He’d shifted back to human form, and her gaze darted down the muscled expanse of his chest to—