Yeah? She had an expert roundhouse kick shed give them both. But the first smart line of defense was to run. So she dodged to the right and raced toward the chain-link fence blocking off the alley. Hooking her fingers in the frozen links, she pulled herself up, yet a boot toe slipped on the icy metal, causing her to drop.
Hanging from the fence by numb fingers, Cassandra struggled for hold. Her attackers did not come after her from below. One jumped over her head and landed a precarious balance on top of the fence. An impossible feat. How had he?
He grinned down at her from his gargoyle post, revealing long, pointy fangs.
Shit. Her fingers slid from the chain links, and Cassandra dropped to the ground.
Vampires were not something shed trained to defend herself against. Only recently her sister, Coco, had alerted her to the vampires involvement in the frazzled mess she called her life. Shed been doing research and had secured a weapon, but hadnt expected them so soon. Or ever.
Straightening, she drew in a breath. When life gave her surprises, Cassandra snapped to all-systems-ready mode.
The fence vamp dropped and backed her up against a garbage bin in the dead-end alley. Snow swirled in from the street, and she was starting to feel some serious freeze on her thighs where her boots ended and didnt meet her dress. Never mind the chill against her bare back that made it difficult to stand still.
Stupid to have abandoned her car in this weather. But it wasnt as if it was drivable with an angel literally embedded within it.
Times like this she wished for superheroine powers. Shed often wondered what her muse powers were. Shouldnt she have some? Granny Stevens had always shaken her head and smiled wistfully.
Her wrist itched and the sigil glowed. That could be very bad, or possibly a lifesaver at a moment like this one.
You got some kind of funky tattoo? the one with the blade demanded. He did not sound German, but rather Russian, though he spoke English well enough.
Wait, the not-all-star, diamond-earring thug said. You know what that is, Russell?
Havent a clue. Some kind of club stamp?
I think we found her. The biggest thug crushed her petite body against the wall with his two-hundred-fifty-plus-pound frame, most of the weight in his gut. Go keep watch, he said over a shoulder to his buddy.
If shes one of them, we have to bring her to the boss.
We will. Isnt that right, pretty little muse?
Now Cassandra screamed. It was involuntary, her body reacting against her brains better judgment.
The one whod went to keep watch soared over her and her aggressors heads and landed on the top of the garbage bin with a dull thud. The blade dropped from the tossed mans hand and landed in the snow.
What the hell? The vampire holding her switched his attention to the tall, shirtless man standing not ten feet from them. He held a Taser in one hand and wielded a cocky grin like a switchblade.
Hi, honey, Im home, the angel said.
What took you so long? Cassandra spit. The vampire still held her by a shoulder, but if he twisted farther to look at the angel
Sorry. I had to shake a car off my wings.
Your wings? the vampire asked. What, are you some kind of faery?
The angel straightened his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. I say wings, and your first guess is faery? He shook his head and made a come- and-get-me gesture with the fingers wrapped around the Taser.
The vampire released Cassandra and turned to the angel in time to catch the Tasers copper hooks with his thighs.
Sam preened over the powerful device and nodded. This is nice. I gotta get one of these for myself.
The vampire ripped out the hooks from his legs and growled. Try again, you bloody faery.
You shouldnt use foul language in front of a lady. Tucking the Taser into a back pocket, the Fallen then held up a palm, fingers tight together, and pointed them toward the vampire. You ready for this?
Ready for
The angel shoved his spaded fingers through the vampires chest, pulled him forward and slapped his spasming body onto the ground. A hot, meaty blood scent assaulted Cassandras nose. The angel roared in myriad tongues like he had in the car. And in one hand, he held a bloody mass from which a puddle of crimson rapidly formed around his boots.
Mercy. Cassandras knees wobbled. She was on the verge of hypothermia, too out of sorts, and shed just watched an angel rip out a vampires heart.
Too bad there arent any witches in the area, the warrior angel commented to the blubbering vamp. I know they have a use for vampire hearts. Keeps them immortal.
The angel tossed the heart behind him, then made a gesture with his fingers that sent the vampire, seemingly weightless as a pillow, onto the garbage bin atop the other attacker.
He bent and plunged his bloody hand into the snow to clean it off, and Cassandra noticed the flesh on his back was seamless. No sign wings had been there. It was broad and burnished from the sun and it would probably warm her if she clung to him.
Just need heat.
Shall we? Sam offered an arm, glistening with fresh-fallen snow and vampire blood. I dont think these two are the sort you should be spending your time with, honey.
D-dont honey me.
It is a mortal endearment. You prefer sweetie? Perhaps mein little cupcake?
Please, spare me your pitiful attempts at charm. Cassandra stumbled past him, but turned and grabbed the Taser from his back pocket. Give me that. Its mine.
The angel slapped a hand to her wrist, easily winning the weapon from her frozen grasp. He tilted the stubby barrel against his shoulder and eyed her calmly. Take it from me, and its yours. Cupcake.
Like that was possible.
And what was with the endearments? If he thought to win her over, the guy needed to take off and never return.
Cassandra turned and marched away from the one man on earth she knew wanted to do her harm. And it wouldnt be by chance, like the two idiots piled on top of each other at the end of the alley.
Sam hooked an arm in hers and walked her swiftly down the snowy street. Cassandra struggled to keep up. All parts of her felt heavy and burned, but the sight of the mangled car made her pause. Cut open and the steel carapace peeled back, it looked as if someone had taken a giant can opener to it. You think that looks bad, you werent the one trying to get it off your wings, the angel said. Clever trick, though.
The T-Taser is mine.
Ill keep a hand on it for a bit.
Where are you taking me?
To your home. You need to get supplies.
F-for what?
In case you hadnt noticed, Cassandra, vampires are after you.
As well as a Fallen angel!
Im not after you. Ive already found you, dear one. The vampires, on the other hand, are on the hunt for muses. Im sure youve plenty more weapons at your home, and probably some nasty angel spells, too, eh?
Spells thatll repel you from me. If you think were going t-to g-get busy
Ive already explained Ive no intent to harm you. Convincing you will have to wait. Youre shivering madly. Your skin is colder than mine. Frostbite is a real danger. I wont have that.
Ive already explained Ive no intent to harm you. Convincing you will have to wait. Youre shivering madly. Your skin is colder than mine. Frostbite is a real danger. I wont have that.
Youd pass up a ch-chance to nab some nasty vamps to get me warm?
His eyes grabbed her the moment they connected. Cassandra could not resist the warmth in them, the utter dazzle of colors. Did he possess some kind of mind control? Some means to see into her thoughts? Transfixed, she swallowed.
I would do anything you ask, Cassandra.
Anything? Then let go of me. I can walk myself.
You can barely stand. He lifted her into his arms, and the thought to struggle did not come to her fuzzy mind. I can find your home.
Can you read my thoughts?
Now that Ive you in my arms, I can read your heat trail.
That sounded nifty, but she didnt say so as he marched her south. She allowed him to do so because she wasnt thinking straight and she needed to conserve her energy so she could think once she got home.
So youre S-Sam? My Sam, she thought. Then she mentally kicked herself. Hard.
You know much. I had expected you would initially be quite surprised by me.
My Granny Stevens taught me everything she knew about angels and demons and me being a muse, she said.
They turned west. Her apartment was just up the street. She was not leading him, but her shivering limbs homed on it like a beacon and he probably sensed that.
You know angel names?
Time to shut up. If he wasnt going to tell her his name again, it didnt matter to her. As soon as she got home, shed perform an angel repulsion spell and kick his ass back to the Ninth Void.
After she warmed up. Would she ever warm? Her blood had stopped moving, she felt sure. And her skin burned with frostbite.
Samandiriel is my name, he finally confirmed. And please, release your worries regarding our connection. I Fell with a greater purpose than merely tupping mortal females.
Right. Youre holier than holy then? Tell me another one.
Have I tried to attempt you yet?
No, but you are taking me home. What are you going to do with me once we get there?
Thats up to you, Cassandra. Its all up to you now.
Sounded ominous, and like a cop-out. She couldnt control anything but keeping her own ass safe. Shed done it for twenty-seven years. She had sacrificed a lot over the years. Intimate relationships, for one thing. It was always difficult explaining why she spent all her time studying angels and martial arts to a boyfriend who preferred her to focus on him.
For the same reasons, good friends also fell by the wayside.
But that sacrifice meant she was now prepared for the worstdoom. And doom had just come knocking.
Though she hadnt been prepared for Sams conflicting behavior. He didnt want to have sex with her? Shed been taught that was the Fallens principal purpose for walking earth.
Coco should leave for Berlin tomorrow with a pregnant muse in tow. Ophelia OMalley hadnt been so lucky avoiding her Fallen. Cassandra wasnt sure what they could do for her, since she was but days from delivery.
Now that Sam had landed on earth she might have to call off the gathering of muses shed convinced to join her. It wasnt safe with a Fallen in Berlin. Right next to her, actually. Carrying her. Which her shivering limbs appreciated right now.
The best she could do was to kill Sam before Ophelia arrived.
That was a plan she had covered. Although it would come off much easier if he were not carrying a Taser and not seemingly able to read her mind. The man knew too much about her already.
You l-learned the world after you were summoned? she wondered.
Yes, its an interesting place, I must say. I imagine the earth is a Sinistaris pleasure dome.
The Sinistari were demons forged specifically to slay the Fallen. She could really use one of them right now.
So vampires summoned you?
I learned that truth from a vampiress who was in love with a halo hunter.
Cassandra would not allow him to see her gulp. She knew exactly what couple he was talking about. Shed developed a network of muses and, as a result, others in the know, like halo hunters.
Sam marched her up a snowy path and kicked open the door to her building. The vampires want you and me to get together much more than you or I do, trust me on that one.
He set her inside and she stumbled forward, but hit the stairs at a run. It felt like a run, but was actually a laborious climb up four steps. Her limbs bent with great difficulty. Icy fingers didnt properly grasp the iron railing.
He beat her to her apartment door. Cassandra huffed with exhaustion, stunned she hadnt seen him pass her up. The angel flashed her his cocky grin, andwas that puppy-dog look admiration?
Wrong time; wrong guy. If only Marcus had been more romantic, she might have avoided this date with destiny.
Wrong, Cassandra. The angel would have found you. Be thankful Marcus hadnt revealed a hero complex when that happened. Protect the innocents.
She leaned against the wall, thankful for the support. One thing she never minded about this building was that the landlord blasted the heat out into the central hallways. Already she felt melty and the tingling in her fingertips had stopped.
My house keys are in the car. You owe me a car. Im not rich, and I just paid that thing off.
You wont need a car to do what weve to do.
I dont need your help to stop the apocalypse, buddy.
I prefer your shortening of my name to Sam over some senseless nickname, he offered. And who said anything about the apocalypse? I want to slay the Fallen and annihilate the vampires. Thats far from end of days.
You really hate the Fallen, eh?
I do not subscribe to hate. I dont know how. But I will do whatever is necessary to make things right.
He didnt know how to hate? Made sense in the greater spirit of angels and divine goodness, but the Fallen were not the good guys, so why couldnt they hate?
He gripped the doorknob and twisted it hard. It splintered the wood around the lock and he opened it and walked inside. Dont worry, you wont be returning.
Like hell I wont. You are not the one who gets to tell me what to do, she said, feeling her energy return in spurts of warmth rushing through her veins. Why wouldnt I return? This is my home.
Because as of right now, you are on the run.
Yeah? Rubbing her hands together, Cassandra soaked the lofts toasty warmth in through her pores. Generally the person one runs from does not accompany them on that escape.
Youre not running from me.
Oh, right, the vampires. I forgot.
She lived in a vast third-floor loft that stretched the buildings width. The highly glossed cement floors flashed with moonlight, and at the south end gray velvet furniture nestled before the floor-to-ceiling window. Tiny blue spotlightsshe always left them onin the ceiling tracks to her right lit the kitchen with what shed always called an ethereal glow.
The angel strode about and sorted through her things, lifting the couch cushions and tugging open the drawers on the coffee table. He found the pistol in the coffee table and tucked it into the waistband of his pants, next to her Taser.