Page 112 of Angel Of Darkness

“Well, a year ago, I never expected I’d get turned into a vampire, and I’d have an angel stand by and refuse to help me while I’m trapped in a crypt.”

More silence.

But he was still there. She could feel him.

“Don’t you ever get tired of watching people die?” Nicole exploded. The chain was just locked too tightly around her wrist. She’d always had too-sharp, too-big wrist bones.

“I do what I was born to do. Watch. Shepherd.”

“Shepherd?” Yes, the bones were too big in her wrists and her hands—the bones were the problem.

“I take the souls when they are ready to leave this plane.”

“And you’re never tempted? Never once do you think, hey, maybe this woman wants to live longer with her daughter and not die from cancer when she’s only twenty-eight.” Her mother. Nicole was talking about her own life, and the pain still bled inside her. “Or maybe this guy wants to have a chance to see his kids grow up.”

“I know why you were at the church that night.”

That shut her up. Figured he’d know. “I never made it inside the church.” The doors had been barred to her. Talk about a big glowing sign of things to come.

“He watched you then.”

Keenan.

“He watched too much, I knew it.”

“But you didn’t stop him.” Ah, sure sounded just like Mr. Hands Off. “You could have stopped him from falling!”

“If I had, you’d be dead.”

Right. There was no win-win in this game.

“He’s losing himself in you.”

She wasn’t sure what that meant. And the chains wouldn’t break, so that meant there was only one option.

“If he goes too far, there will be no saving him. Once the line is crossed, he’s lost.”

What line? “Keenan’s not lost! He’s had my back this whole time and, by damn, I will have his!” Once she got out of there.

“Carlos can kill him.”

The chain wouldn’t break.

“I can’t see a Fallen’s future. Can’t see what will be, so I don’t know how quickly he’ll die.”

“Carlos wants to use his blood to make Angel’s Dust.”

“The power of the Dust comes from the feathers. Not blood.”

He seemed damn certain of that fact. “So—what? Carlos will just drain Keenan and kill him? For nothing?”

Silence.

Screw this. She sucked in a deep breath and slammed her right hand and wrist into the concrete. Once. Twice.

The chain wouldn’t break, but she could. Her wrist bones were twisted, mangled, but now she could get them out of the chain. One hand down. It will heal.

“Why?” His voice, showing more emotion. This time, there was no mistaking Az’s confusion.

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