Az thought about incinerating him. But, no, they needed the guy. For now. “Demon, are you a doctor?”
Cody stiffened. “I’m no demon.”
Az strode toward him. “Tell that to someone who can’t see you for what you really are.” He knew demon eyes when he stared into them. No magic glamour could fool him.
Cody’s hands lifted as if to ward him off. “Don’t bring a dead girl to my door. There’s nothing I can do for her.”
“She’s not dead.” But the doctor could be, very soon.
“Brandt attacked her.” Tanner ran a shaking hand through his hair. “Those were his claws that tore open her chest.”
“Fuck.” Cody rocked back on his heels. “Our psycho of a brother won’t ever stop, will he?”
“That’s Jade.” Intensity fueled Tanner’s voice.
Cody’s brows climbed and his arms dropped. “Brandt’s Jade?”
Hell, no. “My Jade.” Az stepped toe-to-toe with the demon. “And if you want to keep living, then you’ll make sure she does, too. You have to stitch her up. Close those wounds. Help her.” An order when it should probably have been a plea. But he’d never had to plea for anything before. Even when he’d been cast out of heaven, he hadn’t begged. He’d raged. Cursed. Fought.
Cody swallowed and nodded. “I-I’ll do what I can.”
Not good enough. “You’ll do everything.” He strode through the entrance and was surprised to see that the place was actually much bigger inside than he’d realized. It snaked back, dipping low and twisting around.
Cody hurried around him. “This way. I have a small clinic set up for—”
“For emergencies like these,” Tanner finished quietly.
The demon doctor shoved open another door. The room inside was small, but packed with medical equipment.
“Put her on the table.” He grabbed a pair of gloves. “We need to cut off that shirt so I can see what kind of damage we’re dealing with.”
Az lowered her onto the thin table. Her head rolled to the right. Carefully, he pulled away her shirt, ripping it when it stuck to the drying blood because he didn’t want to jar her. The slashes were deep into her chest. Thick, gaping. He ached when he saw them.
And he wanted to tear Brandt apart. Death will make you scream.
“Sadistic bastard.” Rage thickened Cody’s voice. “I thought she was supposed to be the one that he loved.”
Tanner shook his head. “You know he can’t really love anything. He can only destroy. He can—”
“He meant to kill me.” Az brushed back her hair. “She . . . got in his way.”
“You mean she took the attack for you.” Tanner was by his side. “Brandt has killed too many people that Jade loved. I wasn’t there back then, but I know the stories. She wasn’t just going to let you die, too.”
Az frowned down at her. “Jade doesn’t love me.” She needed him. She . . . wanted him.
But love?
The cop didn’t respond.
The one called Cody stared down at Jade’s savaged body. “I can close the wounds . . .” He licked his lips. “But I’ll tell you now, she’s lost too much blood to survive.”
Tanner’s head snapped up. Az saw the shifter’s nostril’s flare. “Flowers,” Tanner mumbled. “That scent, I smelled it before . . .”
Found us. Az spun away from the table. “Close her wounds and get her ready for a transfusion—”
“I don’t have any blood here.” Cody cut through his words instantly. “I can’t—”
“Get her ready!” He yelled back at him. Az followed that floral scent out of the house. If he hadn’t been so intent on Jade, if the smell of her blood hadn’t filled his nostrils, then he would have already known.
Death stalked them.
Time for him to send Death running.
He shoved through the broken door and stood on the slanting porch with his legs braced apart and his arms loose at his sides. “Marna, I told you what would happen if I saw you again!”
An angel appeared in front of him. The angel’s long, black wings stretched toward the sky. But this wasn’t the delicate Marna. This . . . This was Bastion, an ancient Death Angel. An angel who’d been second only to Az.
“Where is she?” Bastion demanded as his wings lowered. His eyes, golden as the streets of heaven, penned Az.
Az didn’t move. “You’re not getting to her.”