Page 138 of Angel Of Darkness

“There.” Her whisper. The blood trail led into the wooden confessional booth.

For Carlos to have left a body here, dumped in a church—you’ll regret this move, I promise.

Some sins truly were never forgiven.

Nicole’s head tilted to the left. “I hear…” Nicole gasped and raced forward. She yanked open the confessional door and a scream echoed through the cathedral.

Not Nicole’s scream.

The bait was alive. The woman was screaming and shaking. Thin, bloody slices covered her arms and legs. Keenan knew those slices had been made with a coyote’s claws.

“It’s okay,” Nicole told the woman, holding up hands that no longer sported claws. “We’re here to help you.”

The woman—with tangled blond hair and a short black dress—blinked. Mascara and tears stained her cheeks. She looked familiar to Keenan. He knew he’d seen her before.

Running from the fire at Temptation.

He stepped back and his gaze swept over the wooden pews.

“Where’s the man who did this to you?” Nicole asked. “Where is he?”

“N-not...man.” The woman fell to her knees and made the sign of the cross. “D-devil.”

No, just a coyote shifter. The devil had died long ago. Now someone else ruled for him.

“H-hurt me...wanted to know...”

“Let’s get her out of here,” Nicole urged, and Keenan noticed that she kept her head angled away from the woman. Right, the blood. That smell would be tempting Nicole.

He lifted the woman and held her easily.

“H-help me,” she begged. The woman’s name—had it been Tina?

“We will,” Nicole promised. “We’ll get you to a doctor. You’ll be okay.”

They hurried for the exit. Nicole shoved open the door and the hot night air spilled inside. Dawn still hadn’t come, not yet, but it was edging closer. Nicole hurried down the stone steps. “Come on,” she called out. “We can get her to safety!”

A growl broke the night.

Nicole whirled around and faced the dark alley. Pirate’s Alley. The alley she’d nearly died in six months ago.

No, she had died in that alley. No getting around that truth.

And now Keenan knew that Carlos waited in that darkness for her.

Carefully, he put the woman on her feet. “Can you walk?” He wanted to know.

She just cried. Her bloody hands wrapped around his neck as she held on tightly.

He tried to pry her hands loose but she started screaming, “Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”

Nicole flinched as she glanced back at him. He saw her swallow and she said, “Keep her safe.”

No, no, Nicole wasn’t going into that alley alone!

“I’m not afraid of the monster in the alley anymore,” she told him before she gave a hard nod. Her canines were lengthening. Her claws sharpening. “This time, he’ll be afraid of me.”

Then she was gone. Nicole raced into the alley and ran right toward that darkness—and Carlos.

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