“What?” Did fear flicker in her eyes? “No, Sam, you—”

He shut the door. Her screams followed him. So did the thud of furniture. The woman must be using her power to wreck the room. If she wasn’t careful, she’d wear herself out, or rather, she’d wear her power out.

Good. That was just what he wanted . . . Seline weaker and more controllable. Sam began to whistle.

Hunting time.

He’d left her hanging—literally. Seline twisted and snarled, but she seemed to hang suspended courtesy of invisible hands. The guy wasn’t even around, but he still trapped her easily. Talk about a powerhouse.

Just what would happen when a demon came to “take care” of her? She bit back her anger and pulled in her energy. No sense wasting her power now. Okay, yes, she’d already smashed two chairs and a TV set, but she was back in control now. She could think past the fury, and she knew she’d better save her power for whoever was unlucky enough to come in that room.

So she waited. Waited.

Time seemed to crawl by as she dangled in the air. Then finally the door began to creak open.

Cole’s dark head appeared. It figured that Sam would send his right-hand demon flunkie to deal with her. Cole glanced at her, and his brows rose. Then he leaned back against the door frame, crossed his arms, and actually smirked.

Thanks for giving me a reason.

She blasted the jerk.

The fire at the warehouse was out. Now, all that remained was a sodden black mess that reeked of ash. A few firefighters were still at the scene, and Sam saw several cops and a guy he tagged as an arson investigator scanning the area. They were making notes, talking to each other, and looking worried. This was way above their pay scale.

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Sam stood in the shadows of a nearby building and watched. Waited.

Rogziel. He’d wondered if the bastard was lurking around. Sam had been itching to rip that guy’s wings off for centuries. Pretentious prick.

And Seline had spent thirty years with him? Her whole life? Talk about a living hell.

Why would a punishment angel even take in a succubus? Didn’t make any sense. To stay with her . . . to keep watching her all this time.

Why Rogziel? What made you develop such an interest in Seline? Maybe that other half of hers did matter.

Brakes squealed as a familiar black van pulled to the curb near the blackened warehouse. Ah, he’d been wondering when the van would show again. Cole had traced the van back to a fake name and address. Interesting . . . so Rogziel was trying to cover his tracks a bit.

Two men jumped out of the vehicle, one with pale blond hair and one with hair a dark red. They talked to the cops. Gestured to the scene. Looked all angry and pissed.

Human minions.

What happened to the good old days? The days when angels took care of the dirty work themselves, without hiring it out to the humans. Sometimes, you really had to get your lily-white hands dirty in order to get the job done.

His hands curled around the bars of the motorcycle he’d “borrowed” earlier. He watched the two males climb back inside the van, and when they took off, he was right on their trail.

Getting his hands dirty had never been a big problem for him.

“Get me down from here!” Seline screamed.

Cole slowly picked himself off the floor. He rubbed his jaw. She’d been feeling pissy, so she’d let his pretty-boy face slam into the bathroom door. “No can do, ma’am.”

Oh, great, and Texas flowed beneath his words.

Seline kicked out into the air. She was flailing like a freaking fish.

“Boss’s magic.” Cole gave a shrug. One of those I-don’t-give-a-fuck shrugs. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

Fabulous. Sam had actually sicced his guard dog on her. “More likely, I’ll hurt you.”

A ghost of a smile lifted his lips. “I’m not the one who left you hanging.” Now his gaze drifted down her legs. “I don’t . . . ah . . . normally leave women like that.”

She stilled. No way was the demon Casanova hitting on her. But . . .

She was still riding high on the energy she’d taken from Sam. She’d never gotten a boost like that in her whole life. As far as she knew, she could be emitting some kind of succubus beacon. Come . . . let’s sex it up.

She lifted her hand. “Get the eyes off my legs or you’ll get another hit.” As if she didn’t have enough to deal with right then. “And get me down!”

He crossed his arms again—must be his favorite pose. Then as she glared at him, Cole slowly lifted his eyes and propped his back against the wall. “Only Sam can free you.”