Why were mortals so weak? So breakable?
He saw her gaze dart over his shoulder. Curious, he asked, “Can you still see my wings?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Then his blood was still fueling her. Perhaps she wasn’t as weak as he feared.
A lone howl echoed in the distance. Jade shivered. “This place kind of creeps me out.”
It was supposed to. Humans could feel the vestiges of magic in the air—magic that had been used to keep them away. Without his blood, she probably wouldn’t have been able to set foot on the land.
“You can’t leave my sight,” he told her, deliberately keeping his distance. Going to her then wasn’t a good idea. The magical power was pressing on him. Pushing against the darkness he’d kept chained inside for so long. “It’s far too dangerous now.”
“Because of Brandt?” She exhaled and rose. The jeans he’d conjured hung low on her hips and he caught a flash of her smooth belly. “So we’re out of bullets. We can come up with a backup plan.”
He was working on one. He could try ripping off the panther’s claws and using them to slice the bastard’s head from his shoulders. That would work. No, it should work. But he suspected that the hybrid had been using magic to amp up his power.
No wonder Brandt had taken the witch as a lover . . . what better way to get up-close access to magic?
In order to take Brandt down, to be certain that he’d have the strength to defeat that bastard, Az knew he would have to increase his own power.
Though a magnification of that sort brought risks.
“What is it?” The old hardwood creaked beneath Jade’s feet. “Something’s wrong.”
Everything was. He could kiss heaven good-bye now. There’d be no going back upstairs. No forgiving and forgetting for the things he’d done. Or for what he’d do.
The darkness shoved from inside his chest. He’d tried so hard to do the right thing. He’d chained the whispers inside, and done his best to defeat the dangerous needs that called to him. He’d fought them every moment that he’d been on earth.
Until her.
“Az?” The floor creaked again as she took a step toward him.
He held up his hand. “Stop.” She couldn’t touch him. Not now. “Bastion was right.”
She stilled.
Time for his confession. “You haven’t even asked why I fell.”
“And you haven’t asked how I wound up with a jerk like Brandt.”
Surprised, his gaze flew to her face. She was watching him with an intent stare. Focused, but not afraid. When would she learn that she needed to fear him?
“I’m not perfect,” Jade said quietly even as her chin notched up. “So I don’t expect you to be.”
But she also didn’t expect him to be a monster. To bring hell to earth. The witch, she’d expected that of him. Promised him that he’d destroy everything and everyone. She’d warned that one day he’d break through the binds that contained the monster inside—and no man would be able to stop him.
“I killed Brandt’s father.” Jade tossed the words out so casually that Az blinked. “He was the big, bad alpha leader. The man who’d tortured his son for years. The man who thought he was going to torture me . . . but I killed him.” Her laugh was bitter. “He didn’t sense a threat from me. ’Cause I’m just human, right? Weak. Helpless. No danger to a tough guy like him.”
She was dangerous. The ache in his chest grew. This place . . . it was pressing too deeply into him. Bastion would never venture here. He was too good to survive this place. As for Brandt, he wouldn’t expect Az to ever bring Jade to such a dwelling.
Evil.
It was growing thicker in the air, as if enjoying her confession.
“I met Brandt when I was seventeen years old.”
He didn’t want to hear about her time with the panther. The drumming of Az’s heartbeat began to pound louder in his ears.
You ever need to recharge, go to Devil’s Lake. Consider it a safe house, of sorts. The magic there will fire you up, but be careful, brother . . . it comes with a high price.
Sam’s warning. Az hadn’t been afraid of paying, but . . . but now as the fury in his body built, he wondered just what he’d be sacrificing in exchange for the power coming his way.
Why hunt out a witch when you can steal the power they left behind? It had seemed faster, smarter, to come here and soak up the remnants of magic.
Sometimes, you had to fight the dark with—
“He seemed perfect when we met,” Jade said. “Strong. Handsome.”
I don’t want to hear this story.
“I left my family to be with him. They told me to be careful, that I was too young, that I didn’t really know him.” She shook her head and stood there with her shoulders slumping a bit. “But I loved him, he loved me, and I knew we were supposed to be together.”
Loved him.
He could almost feel the stretch of his phantom wings. “He wasn’t for you to love.” The fury inside roughened his voice, but he held onto his control. This place wouldn’t break him. He’d take the power. Keep Jade safe. Destroy anyone who tried to take her away from him.
“At first, everything was perfect.” She took another step toward him.
Az tensed. His c**k was hard and swollen. His body tight with need. Whenever she was close, he craved her. But he didn’t want to take her here. Not in this place.
Not her.
“Brandt can be charming. He can be seductive.”
He could be a dead man with his head severed from his body.
“But I started to find . . . more in him.” Jade’s eyes held memories he didn’t want to see. “My mom had always told me that the devil was a good-looking man, so perfect that you wouldn’t see past his beauty until it was too late.” Her lashes lowered and shielded those memories. “I saw too late.”
Brandt raced back to his makeshift base. In the form of the panther, his powerful legs flew over the earth. A snarl broke from him even as the scent of blood filled his nose.
Two of the men he’d left behind turned at his approach. Still in human form. Their eyes were wide. Their hands up as if they’d calm him.
Jade’s scent.
She’d been there. While he’d been out, searching so desperately for her, she’d been there . . . with him. The f**king Fallen.
Brandt launched into the air and took the throat of the first fool who should have captured Jade. Blood burst into his mouth, and he drank the guy’s last breath.