Page 80 of Angel Of Darkness

The blonde with the gun shook her head and backed toward the door, never lowering her weapon.

“I’ll see you again, right?” Sam called. “Seline, you will be back to dance again tomorrow.” The guy made the last part sound like an order.

Seline didn’t speak. She kept her gun up, took a few more steps back, and disappeared through the open doorway.

Because she was watching Sam so closely, Nicole saw the flicker of his eyelids and the fleeting expression of disappointment on his face. Interesting. She filed that little flash away for later.

Sam brushed off more glass shards and sighed. “There a reason you came slumming tonight, Fallen? Or were you just looking to get tempted?”

Keenan’s hands fisted. “Az wants her.”

Sam didn’t blink. “Really.” No surprise there, but then, he’d all but told her this would be happening.

You’ll suffer.

“Guess you can’t cheat death,” Sam returned, not sounding the least bit ruffled to hear that she’d be dead, again, soon.

Not his problem.

They’d made a mistake coming there.

“Sucks for you.” Sam stalked forward. “But what the hell do you think I’m going to do? Why do I care if another vamp bites the dust?”

She winced. “Keenan, let’s go.” She wasn’t going to beg this prick for anything. Certainly not for her life. He won’t help me.

“Right.” Sam nodded. “Go, Keenan. Go screw your little vamp while you have the chance. And when Az comes for her, and you try to stop him—well, then you’ll find out just what death is like for a Fallen.” His lips twisted into a cruel grin. “Think you’re heading upstairs again?” He paused for a beat of time. “Think again.”

Someone punched her in the chest. No, it just felt like that. The thought of Keenan dying hurt. No. “He’s not dying for me,” Nicole said. She wouldn’t let him.

“He fell for you.” Sam shrugged his broad shoulders. “Dying’s the next step.”

“Sam.” Keenan’s voice snapped out, and the room seemed to tremble.

No, the room did tremble, and a smile curved Sam’s lips. “Getting some of your bite back, are you? Not being a demon-wannabe anymore?”

What?

Pieces of mirror crunched beneath Sam’s boots. He stopped walking and stood right in front of Keenan. Her gaze darted between them. Same height, same build. One dark, one light. Power seemed to crackle in the air around them.

“What would you do for her?” Sam wanted to know. “To save her, would you fall again?”

Keenan’s eyes cut to her.

Oh, damn. He really did it. He fell for me.

She swallowed the lump that was trying to choke her. He’d fallen for the woman she’d been before her change. When he found out about all that she’d done since becoming a vampire, he’d hate her.

Tell him.

If he found out, he’d turn away and she wouldn’t have to worry about him risking his life for her.

“I’m not letting her die,” Keenan declared flatly. “She lived before, that means she should get a new shot. Az—the bastard’s making this personal.”

Her gaze flew up to his face. She caught the hard flex of his strong jaw.

“Ah.” Sam sighed. “You don’t buy that her name’s on that big, magical list of death, huh? You think Az is trying to make an example of you? Trying to show all the other angels that if they fuck up, they won’t get rewarded? No falling and pleasure for them—just another nightmare?”

“You tell me.” Fury vibrated in Keenan’s voice. “You’ve known him a lot longer than me.”

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