Page 96 of Angel Betrayed

“Because your powers are cranked too high.” He swore, then turned his head to the right. “Back off, assholes, she’s with me.”

Two more men turned away.

His hand fisted on the bar top. “You’re pulling them in, and you don’t even realize it.”

No, she realized it. There was just nothing she could do to stop the pull.

“I’ve slept with three men in my life.” Her confession seemed too loud even in the noisy bar. “This isn’t what I wanted to be.” But maybe there had never been a choice. Seduce. Kill.

Had Rogziel been right about her? If he could see her now...

He’d laugh, then he’d kill her.

The long, twisting house in the woods had served many purposes over the years. Weapons storage. Hideaway. Lover’s retreat.

Tonight, it was a prison.

Rogziel stared down at the Fallen who knelt in the middle of the holding spell. He’d learned over the years that even witches could have their uses, and he’d certainly made sure to use the witch Mateo as much as he could.

Some spells could bind any being, even a Fallen. Not forever, of course. But he didn’t need forever. He just needed a few hours. “Ready to talk, Tomas?”

Tomas’s dark head lifted. He smiled. “Go fuck yourself, ’Ziel. I don’t answer to you.”

A growl rumbled from the shadows behind Rogziel. This time, he’d made sure to summon the hound that belonged to him. Using Erina’s hound had seemed like such a fitting vengeance before. But obviously, that plan had been a mistake.

He would make no more errors. “I’m not here to kill you.”

His words had Tomas blinking. Dry blood coated the right side of the Fallen’s face. “No? You just hunt me down, sic that hound on me, and let it nearly rip my face off…but you’re not planning to kill me. Of course, not. How stupid of me to think that was the end goal.”

Slowly, Rogziel stalked around the containment circle. “I know why you fell.”

Tomas pushed to his feet, and pain flashed on his face. Those broken bones hadn’t healed yet. “Kiss my ass. You aren’t going to judge me. Save it for the humans?—”

“How about I save it for your human?”

Rogziel’s heart raced a bit faster when he saw the fear flash on Tomas’s face. Hit. Rogziel cocked his head as he studied the Fallen. “She was the cause of your fall. She tempted, and you succumbed. If anyone needs punishment, then she should be the one to pay.”

“Leave Sierra alone! You stay the hell away from her.” Tomas lunged forward and slammed into the side of the invisible wall that held him. His nose broke and blood splattered.

So much blood. Not dark. Bright red. Rogziel smiled. “You wanted her, and you fell to fuck her. Yet she’s not with you now.”

Tomas’s hands clenched into fists. “What do you want?”

Rogziel frowned and moved closer. “Why is that?” He really wanted to know. “You burned for her, but you let her go? Or maybe—maybe she didn’t want you.” Now that would be a nice twist. “Once she found out what you were, did she run away?” Humans were always so afraid of the things they didn’t understand, and they didn’t understand most things.

“What do you want?”

“So emotional.” Rogziel shook his head. “But that’s what happens when you fall. You feel too much.”

“And you think you don’t feel?” Tomas fired right back, but he was careful not to get too close to the white powder that formed a circle around his feet. “I can see it on your face—you like hurting people. You’ve gone bad. You’re fucked in the head.”

His heart was pounding too hard. “I serve. I do my job. I punish.” His lips twisted in disgust. “I have my wings. They didn’t burn away because I disobeyed.”

“It’s not always about disobeying,” Tomas muttered, and then he smiled. Rogziel didn’t like that bloody smile. So close to death, Tomas shouldn’t be smiling.

He should be begging.

“How long has it been…” Tomas asked, raising one brow, “since you were upstairs?”

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