The rolling doors shuddered up to the ceiling, and Az stepped inside with shadows pulsing around his body. Fury burned in his eyes as he swung his sword at Rafael’s neck. The angel rolled to the side, and the sword hit the concrete ground.

Az slowly stalked toward him. “I told you to stay away from Mia.”

The danger in his voice sent tremors through my body. Or maybe that was the shock of my wound finally hitting me. My arm burned. Pain flared deep within me, pulsing like a repeated punch against my bones. Slowly, I slid to the floor and caught myself with my palms.

Michael blinked out of the warehouse just as Caim and Phenex rushed inside. Rafael glanced behind him, saw his partner had fled, let out an annoyed growl, and vanished into mist. I sagged toward the ground. The fallen angels were gone. Again. Hopefully, it was for good.

“Ow,” I said as Serena fell to my side, wrapping her hand around my wound to staunch the blood. “That really fucking hurt.”

“Asmodeus,” Serena shouted over her shoulder. “Mia’s losing a lot of blood. She needs healing. Can you do the…?”

Dimly, I realized she hadn’t finished her question. That was odd. What was that all about? Did it have anything to do with the things Az kept secret? Didn’t really make much sense. Why would he want to hide that he could heal people?

Could he heal people?

That would probably be useful right about now. The warehouse began to blur, like grey smudges of paint on a canvas. Darkness hovered in the corners of my eyes. The sound of music filled my head. It was very pretty. So pretty that I didn’t feel the pain anymore.

I opened my mouth to tell Az I liked it. And that I liked him. He needed to know. I’d never told him, and I didn’t want to walk out of his life before giving him the truth.

I was falling for a Prince of Hell.

The world went black.

30

A pigeon cooed in my ear. My eyes flew wide. Heart hammering, I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. Darkness filled a room that smelled achingly familiar, like the scent of fire after a storm. A sense of calm settled over me when I realized where I was.

Az’s room.

He’d taken me here after I’d passed out from my stab wound.

I sucked in a sharp breath and flipped back my shirt. My skin was mottled and bruised, but the stab wound was…gone. There wasn’t even a scar from where the dagger had sliced through me. Heart thundering, I thought back to what Serena has said just before I’d passed out. Az had healed me, hadn’t he? I might feel like shit right now, but I would live.