“And he thought you were his ticket back to heaven.”
The witch really did see too much.
“Helping a human, helping one of the favored . . .” Mateo stroked his throat. “That was supposed to fast-pass you back upstairs, right, Azrael?”
“You seem to have all the answers,” Az snarled at him. “So why even ask?”
“Because she needs to see you for what you are.” Mateo’s face twisted with anger. “She’s blinded by you. She doesn’t get that you are—”
“Enough talk.” Jade’s voice cut right through his raging words. Az glanced at her, and did a double take. Jade had snatched up the knife from Mateo’s table, and she’d just shoved the tip against the witch’s side. “We made the deal, now just do your part.”
Mateo’s mouth slackened in shock.
“It’s a magic knife, right?” She muttered. “Hell, isn’t everything magic these days? And I’m thinking if it can cut you, maybe it can even kill you, even if you are some super-powered caller.” She pushed the blade’s tip a bit deeper into Mateo’s flesh. “At the very least, I can make you hurt.”
Mateo’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t care what he is.” Surprise slipped into his eyes, but vanished almost instantly.
“I want him,” she said, “just as he is.”
Az rubbed his chest, aware of an ache that rested beneath the skin.
The witch searched her eyes. Then, after a moment, he inclined his head. “Wait outside. I’ll give you what you need.”
“You’d better.” Very slowly, she lowered the knife. “And stop the trash talk about Az, understand? I get it, you’re not a fan, but back the hell off.”
She was protecting him. Az stepped closer to her. He brushed back a lock of her dark hair. Her head turned toward him. “I don’t care, Az. Whatever the reason you came to me, I don’t care.”
But . . . but there was a flash of pain in her eyes.
He’s using you.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Come on.” They’d wait downstairs. He’d explain things to her.
“I need your blood, Fallen.” Mateo’s words stopped him.
And, of course, he did.
“You have to pay, too,” Mateo murmured. “So I’ll be taking that pound of flesh you offered.” A slight pause. “Good thing your kind heals so fast.”
But Az didn’t want Jade to watch him get sliced open. “You got spells protecting this place?” he asked Mateo.
“Always,” was the instant answer.
Exhaling, Az said, “Go downstairs, Jade. I’ll be there soon. Give me just a minute.”
She nodded and stepped away from him.
But before she left, he wanted her to understand . . . “I’m not going back.”
Her body tensed.
“I’m not using you as some trade-off for heaven.”
She turned toward him. Her hand lifted and touched the edge of his jaw. If he’d had one, the look in her eyes would have broken his heart.
But angels didn’t love.
Angels didn’t, but Fallen—
“Good,” she told him quietly as her hand slowly fell away, “because a trade with somebody like me—with all the things I’ve done—hell is more likely what you’d get in return.”
Then she was gone. The apartment door shut quietly behind her. Az realized his hands had clenched into fists.
“I guess it’s true.” Mateo came to stand in front of him. He held a knife loosely in his hands.
Az forced his hands to relax. “What is?”
“That every angel has a temptation.”
She wasn’t just a temptation.
“Maybe that’s the real challenge.” Mateo’s gaze was hooded. “Can you give her up? If you did, perhaps you’d get what you want.”
“You don’t know what I want.” What he wanted was heading down the stairs. He could hear the soft tread of her footsteps. “So just get to slicing and let’s hurry the hell up.” He had places to be. An angel to see.
A shifter to kill.
“If that’s what you want.” Then Mateo started cutting him. Az clenched his teeth, refusing to cry out as the witch carved into him. Mateo caught his blood in a cup, holding it close.
Az didn’t make a sound. He didn’t want Jade to see him like this, didn’t want her to hear his pain.
So he closed his eyes, ignored the hot slice of that knife, and thought of angels . . . and their deadly schemes.