Demon Fire (Angel Fire #3) - Marie Johnston Page 0,27

possession of the woman’s husband. Sandeen would rule that one out as fast as the others.

Humans weren’t supposed to see his kind. Neither were fallen. But Jameson had figured it out. Two fallen in such a short time? Too much of a coincidence. It sounded more like a case of Numen hubris. They wrote the fallen off as never having existed and it was biting them in the ass. Fallen weren’t human no matter how much the angels wished it.

But that didn’t mean that Sierra had ended up in a small mountain town in Montana in the middle of winter.

Still, intuition tingled in his gut. That, or the host’s heartburn was acting up. He’d tried having a coffee while sitting on his ass for hours, moving the car every forty-five minutes to keep from drawing attention in the tiny town. The drink had been bliss on his taste buds until the human’s stomach had churned up a storm and he’d wanted to vomit it all right back into the cup.

The middle of nowhere in the middle of winter. It was exactly the type of place a fallen would get dumped. Andy’s spies might’ve reported the snow on Winger accurately. So Sandeen had quit drinking the coffee, popped a few Tums, and waited.

Five more minutes and he’d move the vehicle again. The tank guzzled gas like no one’s business and he’d filled it once already. He alternated between running the engine and letting the heat build, then shutting it off until the host’s old bones clattered from the cold. Another trip to the gas station would drain the human’s account.

He shouldn’t care, but he’d long given up on fighting the compassionate side to his nature. An abomination, his sire had claimed. Sandeen couldn’t be needlessly evil, and he was a shame to his realm. Except most of his kind assumed that not being needlessly evil meant he also wasn’t ruthless.

They would be wrong.

Sandeen’s gaze flicked down to the coffee. He was bored as hell and—

A big pickup pulled up to the pharmacy two blocks down. He’d been on surveillance duty for three days. He’d visited all the major places in town—the department store, the sporting goods store, the drug store, and an auto parts shop. Most of the cars were familiar by now. This pickup wasn’t.

Sandeen shifted in his seat and pulled the stocking hat down farther. If this human really could see his kind, he didn’t want this host outed. Who knew when Nowhere, Montana, would come in handy?

A tall man got out. A human. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he squinted against the sun. A black knit hat was stuffed on his head, but the ends of his dark brown hair stuck out in the back. The bottom of his beard brushed the top of his jacket. The passenger door opened, but Sandeen couldn’t see through the vehicle. The man waited on the sidewalk, his face weighed down by a heavy scowl.

The other person cleared the hood of the pickup. Petite—check. Blond—check. For all of Andy’s resources, he hadn’t been able to get a picture of Sierra. Sandeen had seen a few of the other team members Sierra had worked with, but not her.

She wore a gray stocking hat and a simple black coat. He didn’t know what was going on between these two, but either someone had kicked their dog or they were stressed about something.

The man said a few words Sandeen couldn’t make out and the woman nodded, looking around. As she turned toward his vehicle, Sandeen sank lower and tipped his head down but kept his gaze on her the entire time. Her eyes glittered blue in the sunlight.

It was the way she scanned the road and the parked cars that pumped adrenaline through his veins. She was casual but cautious, like she was worried she was being followed.

Or like she was trained.

She turned and he straightened, leaning over the passenger seat to keep from losing sight of her. The man held open the door to the pharmacy. The woman’s head stayed down as she walked inside.

Sandeen’s gut churned and it had nothing to do with the coffee from earlier. He scrambled out as fast as his old bones would allow. His shuffling gait down the sidewalk made him want to scream, but no one paid him any mind, which was one of the main reasons he chose old ladies over and over again. He’d been around humans long enough to know that if