Page 95 of Angel Betrayed

“With you, something happens to me.”

Great. Still not the declaration she wanted to hear.

“I don’t trust myself when I’m with you,” Sam continued gruffly. “I want you too much.”

She needed more than want. There’d been too many other men who wanted her. She pushed him back. Not a toss into the air, just a shove that gave her a few precious inches. “I’m an abomination.” She’d been called that before. Heard Rogziel say it when he hadn’t realized she’d been around.

But now, she knew Rogziel had been right. The powers of a succubus and an angel, all boiling inside of her. “Only punishment angels can control hellhounds.” Even she knew that much. “I’m no angel.” Would never be. The wings and the sweet promise of heaven hadn’t been offered to her.

His fingers were still under her chin. “Do you know how the first demons were made?”

She knew the legend. “From the Fallen.” From the first angels who’d sinned and been cast out of heaven. “They mated with humans and their offspring were cursed.”

He laughed. “I’m betting you heard that tale from Rogziel, didn’t you?”

Yes.

“It’s all in how you look at it,” he murmured. “Maybe they weren’t cursed. Maybe they were blessed Given powers no mortal had ever held before.”

Now it was her turn to release a rough laugh. “That blessing killed many of them.”

“And it turned some of them into kings and queens. They were given enormous power, and the free will to use it how they saw fit.” Once more, he closed the distance between them.

“You’re telling me I’m blessed?” More sirens wailed. Seline wanted out of there. The small alley was making her feel claustrophobic. “I’m not buying it.” She sidled away from him and headed toward the darkness that waited for her.

“I’m saying you’re a whole lot stronger than you realized, than Rogziel probably realized. But now that he knows just what you’re capable of, he’s going to come after you with everything that he has at his disposal.”

She knew that. She’d taken Rogziel’s attack dog away from him. The angel would have viewed that as the ultimate insult.

“You can wait for him to come.” Sam’s feet tapped on the old stone walkway. “Or you can hunt with me, and we can kick his ass.”

That had been the original plan. The darkness thickened as she advanced down the alley. More bars waited. More drunken laughter. More sex on the breeze that tickled her face.

“When you decide I’ve turned on you again—what then?” Seline asked because she wasn’t just going to forget. Some things could never be forgotten. “I saw your eyes in that truck. You were ready to kill me.”

“If I’d been ready to kill you, you would’ve been dead.” Flat. Brutal. Truth.

Another club beckoned. She slipped inside, leaving him to the shadows. She just needed some space. Seline went to the bar. Motioned with her hand for a drink. She didn’t care what the bartender gave her. She just needed something to take the edge off.

The human on her right immediately sidled closer. The man on the left crowded in against her. Seline looked in the mirror and barely recognized the woman who stared back at her. Blood-red lips. Heavy-lidded eyes. Skin a luminous shade no human’s should be.

Her top had torn in the struggle, and her breasts pushed against the fabric. No wonder the men were closing in.

Built for sin.

The man on the right, an American frat boy who’d wandered into the wrong bar, ran his fingers down her arm. “Hola, sexy señorita, where have you been all my life?”

Sam’s image appeared behind her in the mirror. He grabbed the kid’s fingers and squeezed. “Want me to break them?” he inquired, his voice bland, but she caught the fury flaring in his eyes.

“Shit! Shit, man, no! Ow!”

“Then don’t touch her again.” Sam shoved the college boy away. He glanced at the other man. “Get the hell out of here.”

Both men scrambled for the exit. Seline took her drink and downed it in one gulp. It burned her throat, and she wanted more.

“You can’t be out now, Seline.” Sam positioned his body too close to hers.

She motioned for another drink. Daughter of a demon. Daughter of an angel. Made for sin. She stared at her image. “And why not?”

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