Page 140 of Angel Of Darkness

A footstep whispered behind him. Keenan didn’t glance back. He didn’t want to take his eyes off Carlos. Not until Az touched him. But...

“Blood,” Nicole gasped, and she stepped back. “The woman—Keenan is she alive?”

“Don’t worry about her.” Willing bait.

Az was almost right over Carlos. Only a few more moments.

“Choose,” Az said.

Keenan blinked. What? There was no choice. Never had been. What was Az talking about?

But Nicole was moving, spinning around and screaming as she shoved Keenan to the side.

The woman—the bait—she’d followed them. When Keenan flew back from the force of Nicole’s shove, the bait’s hand lifted, and she plunged a thick, wooden stake right into Nicole’s chest.

Keenan grabbed the woman. Touched her—and she was dead in the same second. He ripped the stake out of Nicole’s chest. Not her heart. Not her heart. Please, no. Not. Her. Heart.

“It’s too late,” Az said. “It’s time for the vampire to pass.”

Then everything got very quiet as time seemed to slow. Keenan could hear the harsh gasp of Nicole’s breaths. He could feel the warm weight of her body against his.

He looked up and Az was right there, standing over him and reaching down. Az wasn’t there to take the shifter because that asshole was still alive. Carlos was still alive when he should have been dead.

And now Carlos was rising to his feet. He’d dug all the bullets out of his chest. A walking dead man. Death hadn’t taken his prey, because Az had broken the rules.

Bastard!

“No.” Az shook his head, and Keenan realized he’d yelled his accusations at the angel. “You’re the one who broke the rules.” Az shrugged and his wings flared behind him. “I’m just cleaning up the mess you made.”

Carlos shifted. He transformed with a crunch and crack of bones into the thick, furry beast that was the coyote.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Az didn’t glance at the coyote. His eyes stayed on Keenan. “I know you lust for her, but Keenan, she’s isn’t worth what you have to sacrifice!”

“You’re not touching her.” He pulled Nicole closer and edged away from Az. Keenan pushed Nicole’s lips against his throat. “Drink, sweet. Drink.”

Az sighed and shook his head. “I’ve done this for you, Keenan. I risked wrath because I know you’re better than this mortal world.”

“Better, huh?” She wasn’t biting him. He could feel the edge of her teeth, but she wasn’t biting. Nicole barely seemed to be breathing. “Fuck you, Az,” he yelled. “She’s the only thing I want!”

“A vampire.” Az’s lips tightened. “A killer.”

“You think we’re so different from her?” Why wouldn’t she drink? “How many souls have we taken, Az? How many?” He held her so fiercely, but her body was limp in his arms.

“We carry souls. Humans and Other kill themselves.” Az’s chin lifted. “We are just completing our duties.”

Carlos howled behind him. The shifter was fully an animal now, and that shift would have helped him to heal. He should have died from that last gunshot. Az was changing the game.

“You’re stepping over the line.” Keenan grabbed Nicole’s hand. Her claws were still out, barely. He used them to slice his neck and then he forced her mouth back to his throat. Drink. Even if the human had missed Nicole’s heart, his vamp could die from blood loss. There was so much blood.

Her lips began to move on his throat. Lightly, but, she was drinking. Yes. “Stay with me, sweet. Just stay with me.”

Az’s eyes narrowed. “Why does she matter? You were an angel, and you can be again. This world—the hell here—you don’t need it.”

The coyote began to shift once more as he transformed back into the form of a man. Every shift would bring him strength. That was the way of the beast.

Keenan snarled, “I might not need the world.” The pain. The hate. The wars. “But I need her.”

Az’s wings stretched. “Why?”

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