Devilish Deal by Jenna Wolfhart

29

“Mia!” Az rushed toward me, lifted me into his arms, and then squeezed me so tightly I thought my ribs might shatter. The scent of flames whorled around me as shadows pulsed against my skin. For a moment, I let myself give in to the steady, firm sensation of his body against mine.

He cares,I internally whispered. He actually cares.

But then I forced myself to pull back and climb out of his arms. “You can’t let him get away. He’s going to run straight to Lucifer and tell him everything. This was a test, to prove you’re saving souls. Now, he knows you’ve turned your back on Hell.”

“Shit.” Az ran a hand down his face. “I should have seen this coming. Rafael has always had it out for me.”

“He might not have gotten far yet, boss,” Phenex said, jogging toward us and hefting his glittering sword onto his shoulder. “We don’t know how far he can travel with his vanishing power. It might not be much. We should search the streets. See if we can hunt him down before he leaves for Hell.”

Az nodded and gave me one last squeeze. “I agree. You two wait here.”

The Legion thundered out of the warehouse, leaving me with Serena. I watched them go and then knelt back down beside her, gently removing the sock from her mouth. As soon as she had use of her tongue, she let out a muttered string of curses that would have made a sailor blush.

“I should have known not to trust a dumbass guy who seemed perfect on paper.” She ripped the ropes off her legs and tossed them across the floor. “Cute and nice. Kind to animals. With a ridiculous amount of shared interests. It was all pretend, the whole time. And you want to know why?”

I sat back on my heels and gave her a sad smile. “Why’s that?”

“Because I work at the law firm,” she spat. “Asmodeus is one of our clients. Noah…Rafael. He thought he could get access to some of Az’s private contracts. I caught him looking through my drawers a few times. Thought it was odd, but he always had a good excuse for it.” Growling, she shook her head. “I should have known. And dammit, I wish he’d tried this shit during a full moon. The things I could have done…”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “At least you’re safe now.”

The watery look in her eyes shook me to my core. Serena never cried. “You came for me.”

I swallowed hard. “Of course I did. You think I was going to let him lay a fucking hand on you?”

“But you’re human. You could have died.”

“I don’t care.” I threw my arms around her neck and buried my face in her lemon-scented hair. “I would do anything for you, Serena. Anything.”

“Well, isn’t this a sweet reunion?” Rafael’s harsh voice rang out in the silence.

My heart hurtled into my throat. Tensing my entire body, I slowly unwound my arms from Serena’s neck and turned to face the fallen angel. This time, he wasn’t alone. Another figure stood beside him. Even without the mask, I recognized him in an instant. Tall, muscled, rippling with power. Twin pits of anger stared out of his sleet grey eyes, boring right into my soul. The killer from the alley.

I shivered.

Slowly, Serena rose to her feet and stood beside me. It wasn’t a full moon, but she’d still be strong enough to put up a fight now that she knew that we faced danger. Before, Noah-Rafael had likely caught her off guard. She wouldn’t make the same mistake of trusting him again.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt if a few of my demon friends decided to join the party.

How long would they search the streets before returning to the warehouse? We needed to keep these assholes busy and distracted until the Legion showed.

“I’m glad you came back,” Serena said with a smile that showed the sharp points of her canines. She rarely liked to flash them around. It made it obvious she was not at all human. “Means you’ll get to experience what it’s like to face a very angry werewolf.”

Rafael rolled his eyes. “We’re immortal angels, little wolf. Your scratches will barely harm us, let alone kill us. Nothing can.”

I wet my lips and swallowed down the words that threatened to pop from my throat. There was actually one thing we could do to stop an angel. Take his heart. Did Serena know?

“Why exactly are you here again? Don’t you have something better to do?” I asked with a faux bravado that would make Broadway proud. “I thought you wanted to run to Lucifer with your little news.”

Rafael and Michael exchanged grins. “I would never walk away from a chance to sacrifice two corrupt souls to Lucifer.”

Corrupt? Excuse me?

“If you think I’m corrupt, then maybe you should take a good look in the mirror,” I replied, trying not to panic when the two angels began to cross the floor. They pulled matching daggers from their waistbands and grinned. Where the hell were the demons?

I lowered my voice to a tense whisper. “Serena, I know you’re angry and you want to destroy Noah, but…do you think maybe we should run?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is there a door behind the plastic sheet?”

“Yep.”

“Think we’ll make it?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, good. So….are we going to try anyway?”

She nodded. “Now.”

We whirled on our feet and ran. I made it about six steps before a large beefy hand closed around the neckline of my dress. He tugged me back, and I fell onto my ass. I scrabbled back onto my feet and jumped sideways when Rafael swung for me again.

Out of the corner of my eye, Serena threw a punch into Michael’s gut. I didn’t even try to hold back a smug smile when a groan erupted from his throat. The knife flashed in Rafael’s hand again, dragging my attention back onto his twisted face. He looked tormented, broken. As if the world had once crashed down on his head, and this was the only thing he knew how to do.

Not that I could let myself feel sorry for an evil angel who had killed at least a hundred supernaturals in New York City. One who was currently trying to stab me in the heart.

His dagger loomed before my eyes. With a laugh, he slashed it at my face. Terror charged through me, quick and hot like lightning. Az’s face flashed in the back of my mind. Those slats of ice in his eyes. The strong, unyielding jaw. The thought of him steeled my nerves and urged me not to give up.

With a sharp cry, I dodged back, but the knife made contact with my arm. It sliced through my skin, almost to the bone.

A rip of pure, unadulterated power hurtled from my chest and slammed into the attacking angel. Rafael’s eyes widened as the force launched him into the air. He flew across the warehouse and landed by the rolling doors.

Rafael let out a tense laugh as he climbed to his feet, his eyes unfocused and dazed. “Do you really want to fight me, Mia McNally? You’re in league with a group of demons who care more about themselves than anything else. Your life will always be in danger as long as you’re with Az. Lucifer is going to find out about this, and he’ll torture you for eternity. Maybe you should rethink which side you’re on.”

The rolling doors shuddered up to the ceiling, and Az stepped inside with shadows pulsing around his body. Fury burned in his eyes as he swung his sword at Rafael’s neck. The angel rolled to the side, and the sword hit the concrete ground.

Az slowly stalked toward him. “I told you to stay away from Mia.”

The danger in his voice sent tremors through my body. Or maybe that was the shock of my wound finally hitting me. My arm burned. Pain flared deep within me, pulsing like a repeated punch against my bones. Slowly, I slid to the floor and caught myself with my palms.

Michael blinked out of the warehouse just as Caim and Phenex rushed inside. Rafael glanced behind him, saw his partner had fled, let out an annoyed growl, and vanished into mist. I sagged toward the ground. The fallen angels were gone. Again. Hopefully, it was for good.

“Ow,” I said as Serena fell to my side, wrapping her hand around my wound to staunch the blood. “That really fucking hurt.”

“Asmodeus,” Serena shouted over her shoulder. “Mia’s losing a lot of blood. She needs healing. Can you do the…?”

Dimly, I realized she hadn’t finished her question. That was odd. What was that all about? Did it have anything to do with the things Az kept secret? Didn’t really make much sense. Why would he want to hide that he could heal people?

Could he heal people?

That would probably be useful right about now. The warehouse began to blur, like grey smudges of paint on a canvas. Darkness hovered in the corners of my eyes. The sound of music filled my head. It was very pretty. So pretty that I didn’t feel the pain anymore.

I opened my mouth to tell Az I liked it. And that I liked him. He needed to know. I’d never told him, and I didn’t want to walk out of his life before giving him the truth.

I was falling for a Prince of Hell.

The world went black.