Sam took Seline away from the city. He raced across old railroad tracks and slid beneath sagging bridges that looked like time had forgotten them. When they went off the road, Seline gasped and clutched him tighter.
Finally.
He didn’t stop until the sounds of the city were no more. Then, when he was sure he could see any hunter coming after him, he killed the engine.
The swamp surrounded him again. Twisting trees, heavy heat.
She immediately pulled away and jumped off the bike. Jaw clenching, he followed her.
Seline put a good five feet between them. “You . . . you . . .” Her hand gestured in the air, and she seemed to struggle for words. He didn’t help her. He just watched and waited while the anger grew inside of him.
Afraid to touch me.
“It’s true,” she finally said, a faint furrow between her brows. “You can really—”
“You’re a succubus. You use your body as a lure to drain power from men.” He made the words deliberately harsh, and she flinched.
“Dammit, that’s not—”
“You work for a punisher who spends his days doling out vengeance. You
knew
I was a Fallen.” He stalked toward her. She backed up a step.
His eyes narrowed. Was she trying to piss him off even more? “Everything you know, everything you’ve seen . . .” he grated. “And what? You thought I was lying?”
She swallowed and shook her head slowly. “N-no.” The sun spilled behind her, lighting her hair, making her skin shine and making her look even more gorgeous. “I’ve never seen . . .” Her voice was husky and stroked right over his groin. “You killed him with just a touch.”
And he knew demons who were strong enough to kill with a thought. Evolution had made the
Other
stronger, and for some, too hard to kill. Death could be a challenge some days.
Her chin rose. “Why haven’t you killed me?”
He lunged forward, knowing the move would look like a blur to her eyes. A handy Fallen side effect—near super speed. Not that it made up for having his wings burned away as he plummeted, but . . .
Sam caught her arm and pulled her close. Tension held her body taut. More fear. He hated fear in a woman’s eyes. “I didn’t fall yesterday.” No, so many centuries before. “I’ve learned how to”—he brought his face close to hers—“
control
myself,” Sam finished with his lips inches from hers.
The Fall had been brutal. He’d woken, naked, broken with his mind torn open. It had taken weeks for him to remember who—what—he was.
No control.
Not then. At first, he’d been like a wounded animal. More than ready to turn on anyone or anything who came too close.
But he’d learned to focus his powers. Slowly, painfully. “I can bring death with my touch.” His lips brushed over hers. She didn’t flinch. He took that as a sign of progress. “Or I can bring pleasure.” It was all a matter of what he wanted.
With her, he wanted pleasure.
“Still scared of me, Seline?” he asked, even as his fingers sank into her hair. He tipped her head back.
“Yes.” He knew she spoke the stark truth. He could see it reflected in her eyes. “How do I know”—she licked her lips and he wanted that tongue licking him—“that you won’t turn on me?”
Now there was an interesting question. “And how do I know that the next time we fuck, you won’t try to kill me?” Because there would be a next time. He’d found something he wanted, and he wasn’t planning to let her get away.
He caught the faint flash of black in her eyes. Yes, he was rubbing his body against hers, letting his fingers play with the sensitive spot he’d found just on the back of her neck. A succubus’s strength was her passion, but that passion could be used against her.
If
her lover knew what he was doing.
I know, sweetheart.
He wasn’t above manipulation.
“You need to trust me,” he said.
She exhaled on a soft breath. “And you’ll trust me?”
Not yet. Maybe one day.
“Rogziel will come after you,” Sam stated flatly, but didn’t let her go. “Do you think you’ll be strong enough to stop him?”
“Will you?” she fired right back.
The calculation in her eyes reached him and gave Sam a moment’s pause. Well, well. “Is that what you wanted from the beginning?” When she’d been so eager to serve up his brother and abandon her allegiance to Rogziel?
“I want my freedom. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
But he held her trapped against him then.
“I’ve always known that Rogziel would never just let me walk away.” Her lips twisted into a humorless smile. “He thinks I’m too dangerous to be loose.”
Her curves pressed against him. Her plump lips tempted his mouth. So he said, with certainty, “You are.”
Seline gave a hard shake of her head. “No, when it comes to the power scale, I’m nothing like you.”
His little succubus didn’t understand. There were all kinds of power in this world. Some were subtle, but still damn dangerous.
“When you’re free of Rogziel,” and she’d only be free when that guy was dead, “what are you going to do?”
“Disappear,” she said with soft longing. “I’ll leave this city. Go somewhere with a white sand beach and crystal blue water. I won’t think about death or monsters . . . or anything, but life.”
She didn’t get it. When you were an
Other,
you didn’t get to close your eyes and pretend that the monsters weren’t real. Not when the humans in the world thought you were the monster. But he didn’t shatter her little dream, not yet.
He needed her. If he told her the dream was bullshit, the woman might tell him to fuck off. “Do you still want our deal to work?”
Her gaze held his. Not black now, but that false brown stare of hers that could look so warm and trusting. “Yes.”
“Then you stay with me.” Because he’d been telling her the truth. Rogziel would come for her, sooner or later. “I get Az, then I’ll make sure you get your freedom from Rogziel.”
He could see the hope light her face. Demons had hope? Yes, they did. Sometimes they had more hope than angels.
But then her eyelashes flickered. “I don’t know where Az is anymore. I can’t help you—”
Ah, honesty. Trust might even be coming soon. “Yes, you can.” He released her and stepped back because if he kept touching her, they’d be fucking soon.
Now wasn’t the time to fuck, no matter how tempting she was.
Hunt.
“Rogziel caught Az,” he said.
“Uh, yeah, I know—”
“How’d he do that? How’d he know where my dear brother would be?” He lifted a brow because he already knew the answer. “Rogziel can always find those on his punishment list, right?” That was supposed to be the way for the punishers. No need to waste time searching for prey; not when you had a built-in homing device for them.
But Seline shook her head. “No, no, we always have to hunt those that Rogziel targets.”
Sam didn’t let the surprise flicker on his face.
That wasn’t the way the game worked.
Seline wouldn’t know that, though, and the humans that Rogziel had on leashes sure wouldn’t understand how a punisher’s power worked.
“Finding Az was almost an accident.”
Sam cocked his head. “Some say there are no accidents. No coincidences. Everything happens the way it was meant to be.” If you subscribed to that philosophy, he’d been born to Fall, and to kill.
Seline shrugged, but the move didn’t look careless. “Rogziel had another Fallen in his sights, a guy named Omayo.”
Sam didn’t let his expression alter. “What happened to him?”
“Before we could move to capture Omayo, Az literally fell into our laps. You could say our focus of attack shifted then.”
Az’s Fall had been recent. He would have still been weak when Rogziel caught him. What a stroke of luck for the punisher. “You want me to help you, then you stay by my side and you give me every bit of information that I want on Rogziel and that group he’s got helping him.”
Now she slipped back. Fear didn’t flicker across her face, but hesitation sure did. “What will you do to them?”
Because she
cared
about some of the humans there?
“Alex was a jerk, don’t get me wrong.”
A jerk who’d tried to kill her.
“But the others . . . they’re just trying to do what’s right. They’ve lost people they love. They know that evil has to be punished and—”
And he was bored. She sounded like some pupil reciting a lesson she’d learned at school—a mantra that Rogziel had no doubt taught her. A nice way to brainwash his recruits into being good little killers.
“Don’t worry,” he said, lifting his hands and holding them, palm out, to her. “I won’t touch them.”
Yet
. “Just give me the information you know, help me to find Az, and I’ll make sure you get what you want most in this world.”
Her stare judged him. One moment. Two. Then she gave a small, grudging nod.
Good.
He didn’t let the satisfaction show on his face. Even if she hadn’t agreed, he hadn’t planned to let her go. The deal wasn’t truly about Az or Rogziel.
I just want her.
He turned away, knowing she would follow. He climbed onto the motorcycle and revved the engine. “We need to see Omayo.” He’d give the messenger angel a heads-up. After all, Omayo had never done anything to anger him.
Omayo had just lusted too much for humans. Not for their bodies, but for their emotions.
Then he’d fallen and gotten slapped with every feeling he could possibly want.
Giving Omayo a warning that he’d made Rogziel’s list only seemed fair. Besides, Sam also knew that Omayo still had an in with a few angels. Messages always had to be exchanged, and even the Fallen could still manage some jobs.
He’d warn Omayo, and in payment, Sam would see if he couldn’t get a message sent to someone who would lead him to Az.
Run, brother, run fast—because I’m coming for you.
Seline slid on the motorcycle behind him. Her hesitation was brief, barely a second, but he still felt it, and then her soft hands slowly slid around his waist.
He spun the motorcycle around, kicking up a cloud of dirt, and headed back for the city. As they drove, her hands tightened more around him and her body pressed closer.
He smiled.
The succubus wouldn’t realize how she truly fit into his plans, not until it was too late. By then, there’d be no hope of freedom for her.
You can’t make a deal with Death.
Seline eased off the bike. She could still feel the vibration in her thighs. Her steps were a bit unsteady as she hurried down the sidewalk.
Omayo’s apartment waited less than a block away. “How did you know he was here?” she asked Sam.
He glanced at her, raising a brow. “Omayo found me after he fell.” One shoulder rolled in a light shrug. “Let’s just say he came to my club looking for Temptation.”
Oh, right. She’d been on stakeout duty a few times at Omayo’s place. From what she’d seen of him and the ladies, he’d liked his
Temptation
a lot.
They walked in silence for a while, then they eased up on Omayo’s place.
With a wave of his hand, Sam sent the front door of Omayo’s building flying open. They stepped inside, and Seline’s gaze went to the staircase on the right. The bottom level was just an old garage, but she knew they’d find Omayo upstairs. Seline hurried forward.
Sam grabbed her hand.
“No.”
She froze. The place was as quiet as a tomb, and it kinda smelled like one, too. Her nose wrinkled.
His nostrils flared at the same time, and his gaze darkened to midnight black.
“Omayo. ”
Then he was gone. No, he hadn’t vanished—he’d just run insanely fast, and when she saw him again, he was already at the top of the stairs. Seline rushed after him. “Sam?”
Wood splintered and crashed upstairs, and she heard a bellow from Sam that sent a shiver through her.
Then she was at the top of the landing. Seline ran into the apartment, but after only a few steps, she froze at the sight before her.
Blood—so much blood.
Everywhere.
On the walls. The floor. Even the ceiling.
Sam had bent over the broken body that lay sprawled on the floor. He shifted a bit, and she saw Omayo’s face. She wanted to close her eyes and look away because there was so much terror and pain carved onto his frozen features.