Az didn’t answer. He did spit out a mouthful of blood.

“Maybe you weren’t so sure she’d die,” Sam said. “Maybe you were just trying to change fate your own damn self.”

“I was trying to give Keenan a chance at redemption!”

Nicole’s claws dug into her palms. “You didn’t see my death,” so good at twisting truth, “and you didn’t see Keenan’s.”

His eyes hardened. “I saw death!” His brows furrowed. “Should have died … should have died! The touch only doesn’t work on those with angel bl—” He broke off and his gaze lazered on Keenan. “You—you gave her your blood, damn you! You made her stronger so she could hold off the touch!”

Nothing was stronger than angel blood.

Az took a step forward. “I’ll touch her again … she won’t be able to hold off the Touch. I’ll touch her again!”

“You’re not touching her.” Keenan’s hands were fisted and bloody. “And the death you saw … maybe that was your own death, ass**le.”

That had Az blinking. “I was trying to help you. We’ve worked together for two thousand years, I didn’t want to see you lose everything for a damned soul!”

Damned? Goose bumps rose on her flesh. She didn’t want to be damned. She wanted a second chance. When she looked up, Nicole could see the crosses over the cathedral. Black against the pink dawn. Before the sun comes, death will take a soul.

Keenan’s body vibrated with fury. “I don’t want your help, Az. I don’t want redemption.”

“What do you want?” Az screamed.

Seemed to her that the angel was losing control of his emotions.

“Now you’re sounding human.” The drawl was Sam’s, but his words echoed her thoughts.

Keenan caught Nicole’s hand and smoothed his fingers over her knuckles. “I have what I want.”

Those sirens were nearly on them. The cops would be bursting into the alley any moment. They wouldn’t see Az, she knew that. The cops would just see her, Sam, and Keenan—and two dead bodies.

“You have nothing.” Disgust tightened Az’s mouth. “You think she’ll stand by you? The bloodlust will get to her again, and she’ll take any man who comes her way. She’ll kill, she’ll—”

“Who are you to judge me?” Nicole’s voice came out ice cold. “You’ve killed. You set up these two—” A jerk of her head toward Carlos and the woman “to die tonight. You knew they wouldn’t make it out of this alley. But you put their deaths in motion. If you’d left them alone …”

“Instead of baiting a damn trap!” Sam charged, looking ready to do some killing of his own. Probably because he was.

“They’d be alive,” Nicole finished.

Az laughed then. He threw back his head and laughed long and hard.

The laughter mixed with the sirens. She could see the flash of the police lights now.

“I’m a ranking angel. One of the first created. Favored—”

A burst of wind whipped through the alley. The wind grabbed Nicole’s hair and tossed it into her face.

And Az staggered back a step beneath the force of the gust.

“You real sure about that favored status?” Keenan asked.

Nicole saw the sudden pallor of Az’s skin. He tried to retreat, but Sam caught him and held tight.

“You’re not going anywhere, brother. Nowhere but hell.” Sam told him.

Az turned and his wings knocked into Sam and sent the Fallen hurtling back.

Then Az faced Nicole and Keenan once more. “You’ll both die,” he promised. “I saw it!” Then there were flames in his hand. Conjured flames that he threw right at them.

Keenan jumped in front of her and shielded Nicole with his body.

But the flames didn’t touch him.

The flames didn’t touch anything or anyone.

That wind whipped again and the fire vanished.

This time, the laughter that rang out was Sam’s.

Nicole pushed Keenan to the side and saw that Sam was rising.

Az stared down at his hands. “How could—”

“I think that’s a definite,” Sam broke over his words, smirking. “Your ass isn’t favored anymore.”

Az’s body jerked, contorted, and flew five feet up in the air, as if he’d been yanked on a puppet string.

“Did you ever think …” Sam’s voice was pitched high to carry to the rising angel. “That Keenan didn’t fall because he was being punished?”