Page 51 of Angel Betrayed

No, she wasn’t. Neither of them had to worry about diseases, those didn’t spread between the Other, but safe? No, they were a long way from being the safe sort.

So they’d “trust” each other, but they’d both keep lying.

When she walked into her house, Anthea Johnson heard the soft rustle of footsteps. She smiled, knowing her husband was already home. She and Ron had planned to sneak away this weekend. They’d head out to the little cabin by the lake that Ron loved so much and enjoy a weekend of nonstop sex. “Ron?” Maybe she’d get lucky and come back pregnant. Oh, that would be?—

She saw Ron sitting in the kitchen chair. She hurried forward. “Hi, honey, I’ll be ready in five…” Her voice trailed off as she realized something was wrong with the angle of Ron’s head.

Not his head. His neck.

Very wrong.

Her scream echoed around her and shattered the windowpanes. She lunged forward and grabbed his shirt. “Ron?”

He slumped against her.

And that was when she heard the soft laughter coming from behind her.

Sam had found her clothes to wear. Or rather, Sam had sent Cole to find them. The jeans and T-shirt fit perfectly and even the boots were the right size.

Never underestimate a demon.

Or an angel.

Dressed and semi-ready to face the world, Seline took a deep breath and said, “Your brother wants me dead.” The lust had cooled, and her energy was back, finally. A girl could only bluff so long, and now was the time to put all of her cards on the table.

“He wants me dead, too.”

Yes. He did. “Az told me that all the Fallen would die.” She was pretty sure that the bastard had meant by his hand.

“It’s not easy to kill Fallen,” Sam murmured. “The death touch doesn’t work on our own kind.”

Well, that was interesting. She filed that little tidbit away in her mind.

Sam had pulled on a pair of jeans, nothing else, and her eyes wanted to stray down the muscled expanse of his chest as she looked at him.

Seline cleared her throat. “But the Fallen can die.” Just not by any weapon of man, so the legend and rumors claimed. No mortal weapon. And no death touch. Now that sure raised the question—how had Az killed Omayo? Omayo’s throat had looked as if an animal had ripped it open.

“This isn’t the first time Az has gone after a Fallen.” Sam’s rumbling words had her gaze flying to his face.

“He’s attacked someone else?”

Sam’s lips curved in a smile that caused goose bumps to rise on her arms. “Before his lily-white ass got kicked out, Az took it upon himself to deliver out justice to the Fallen.”

Justice. She did not like where this was going. “He left me alive deliberately,” Seline realized. Not just a great stroke of luck on her part. Az had wanted her to live so that she could deliver his message. “He’s going after the Fallen.” No wonder he’d written Fallen on the wall. Az had been marking, claiming his kill. “I don’t think he’s going to stop until they’re all dead.”

Sam’s stare measured her.

“Are there more Fallen in the city?” Seline didn’t know of any, but maybe Sam did. He knew everything about the Other in New Orleans. “If there are, I think Az will go after them.”

Sam’s stare still locked on her, and she realized that, yes, he knew about more Fallen. He just didn’t know if he could tell her about them. Anger whipped through her blood. “Dammit, Sam, trust, remember? I’m not asking because I want to hurt them! I want to help them. If we can get to the Fallen before Az does, we can stop him.” Didn’t he see that this was their chance?

“We can kill him.”

Seline nodded.

His head tilted to the right as he studied her. “There is one more Fallen in New Orleans.”

Her heart started a double-time beat. “Where is he?” But she was already heading for the door as she tossed out the question. “Let’s get to him, now.”

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