Page 1 of Angel Of Darkness

Prologue

An angel of death does not feel.

An angel of death does not want.

An angel of death does not need.

The angel of death carries out the mission. The angel does not interfere with fate. The angel cannot interfere. The angel waits. The angel watches. Then the angel collects the charge.

To interfere, to change fate…that is a crime that cannot be forgiven. It is the ultimate crime. The darkest sin.

And it will make even the most powerful of angels…fall.

Chapter One

He’d been created for one purpose—death. He was not there to comfort or to enlighten.

Keenan’s only job was to bring death to those unlucky enough to know his touch.

And on the cold, windy New Orleans night, his latest victim was in sight. He watched her from his perch high atop the St. Louis Cathedral. Mortal eyes wouldn’t find him. Only those preparing to leave the earthly realm could ever glimpse his face so he didn’t worry about shocking those few humans who straggled through the nearby square.

No, he worried about nothing. No one. He never had. He simply touched and he killed and he waited for his next victim.

The woman he watched tonight was small, with long, black hair, and skin a pale cream. The wind whipped her hair back, jerking it away from her face as she hurried down the stone steps of the cathedral. The doors had been locked. She hadn’t made it inside. No chance to pray.

Pity.

He slipped to the side of the cathedral, still watching her as she edged down the narrow alleyway. Pirate’s Alley. He’d taken others from this place before. The path seemed to scream with the memories of the past.

“No!”

That wasn’t the past screaming. His body stiffened. His wings beat at the air around him. It was her.

Nicole St. James. Schoolteacher. Age twenty-nine. A woman who tutored children on the weekends. A woman who’d tried to live her life just right...

A woman who was dying tonight.

His eyes narrowed as he leapt from his perch. Time to go in closer.

Nicole’s attacker had her against the wall. One of the man’s hands was over her mouth, the better to make sure she didn’t scream again. His other hand slammed against the front of her chest and held her pinned against the cold stone wall.

She was fighting harder than Keenan had really expected. Struggling. Kicking.

Her attacker just laughed.

And Keenan watched—as he’d always watched. So many years...

Tears streamed down Nicole’s cheeks.

The man holding her leaned in and licked them away.

Keenan’s gut clenched. Knowing that her time was at hand, he’d watched Nicole for a few weeks now. He’d slipped into her classroom and listened to the soft and soothing sound of her voice. He’d watched as her lips curled into a smile and a dimple winked in her right cheek.

He’d seen laughter in her eyes. Seen longing. Seen...life.

Now her green eyes were filled with the stark, wild terror that only the helpless could truly know.

He didn’t like that look in her eyes. His hands clenched.

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