Perhaps one day they would be.

Az took Jade’s arm. They’d clean up and get back to hunting.

“Be careful.” Sam’s warning. Stilted.

Az looked over his shoulder to find that Sam’s stare wasn’t on him. It was on Jade.

“I was ready to burn to keep my mate with me.” Sam’s eyes flashed with the painful memory. “When I lost her, I lost my control.”

It was too dangerous for a Fallen like Sam to lose control.

“A witch once told me that you’d destroy the world,” Sam continued. “When she said that, I had to wonder . . . what could possibly push you so hard that you’d turn on everyone around you?”

Jade’s hand was soft and delicate in his grip.

“Be careful,” Sam warned him again. “Make sure you don’t ever have to face the same darkness that I did.”

Az nodded. Sam had been ready to destroy, to kill—but Seline had come back to him before he’d crossed the point of no return.

What would have happened if she hadn’t been there?

Az and Jade hurried up the old staircase. And as her body brushed his, an insidious whisper had him tensing. A whisper that came from within.

What would I do without her?

Bastion stood in the shadows, watching the mortals as they hurried down the New Orleans Street. No one saw him. They couldn’t—no one there was due to meet death.

His gaze locked on the building across the road. Sunrise. He knew Sammael’s bar well. The Fallen catered to humans and the Other there, flaunting their sins for all to see.

But Sammael had been sinning for centuries, ever since Az had banished him from heaven. One brother, turning on another.

An old prophecy.

But Az had been right to banish his brother. Sammael had broken the rules. He’d taken souls not his to claim. Az had been given no choice in his brother’s punishment.

He had a choice now. He had a choice—and he’d chosen to attack other angels.

Where was Marna?

To sever her wings . . . Az had known what lost wings would cost Marna. Wings didn’t just grow back. Angels could regenerate from most wounds, but not that. Never the wings.

She wouldn’t be going home again.

Horns honked. Voices lifted and fell in a soft cadence. The scent of the river drifted in the air. He ignored all of that, too conscious of the sin Az had committed.

Az had taken away the one thing that Bastion cared for in this world.

His head tilted back as he saw the shadow of forms moving on the upper floor of Sunrise. Two people. A man. A woman. Right behind the curtains.

Az had taken something from him, and now he’d take everything from the Fallen.

Everything.

The water from the shower pounded down on Az’s flesh. Jade stared at him through the thin pane of glass. She wasn’t going to let the guy’s sexiness distract her.

Az turned. Met her stare. Crooked his finger.

Sexy bastard.

Don’t distract. Don’t . . .

But a girl needed to get clean, right?

She yanked her shirt over her head. Tossed her bra. Kicked away her shoes, and had herself naked in about thirty seconds. Not as fast as Az’s instant-clothes-disappearing technique, but still pretty darn good.

But she didn’t just hop in the shower. She could do this right. Make him want as much as she did. Jade straightened her shoulders. Tossed back her hair, and let her gaze dip slowly down his body.

The water ran over those lick-me abs of his. Such sculpted flesh. His wounds were already healed. He was once more all fine-tuned muscle and golden skin. Of course, he was more than human.

Her gaze dropped a little lower. No missing that aroused flesh. Hungry, hard. For her.

As she stared at his erection, his c**k swelled even more, and she licked her lips.

He put his hand on the pane of glass.

She lifted her hand and let it rest on the glass, placing it right over his. The glass was cool to the touch. Her hand seemed so much smaller than his. Weaker.

I won’t be weak again.

His gaze held hers through the glass. Steam began to rise, slowly blurring his image.

He slid open the shower door. She stepped inside, being very careful not to touch him. Not yet. Her body slipped past his, barely an inch of space. She could feel him all around her.

But Az did that. He made her feel him, every moment. He had, from the beginning. She let the water hit her. Let it wash over her and slide down her flesh.

Az didn’t touch her.

She still didn’t touch him.

Jade turned beneath the shower and found his eyes on her. Hot. Hungry.

The water pounded down.