Demon Fire (Angel Fire #3) - Marie Johnston Page 0,51

good enough teammate, friend, and angel to allow her to make amends and let her scrape together enough dignity to turn herself in. She had to hang on to that instead of how he was treating her now.

“You’re what?” Jagger said between clenched teeth.

Her heart hammered. He wouldn’t figure it out, would he? “Sandeen isn’t lying. For once.”

“You’d be surprised how little I lie.” Sandeen’s enjoyment was so obvious, part of it had to be Alma’s. The bright eyes, the straight back, the way the host vibrated with excitement. Both of them were enjoying the show.

Harlowe shook her head, her stare incredulous. “How’d this happen?”

“I bet the who is the interesting part.”

Sandeen needed to shut the hell up.

Disgust twisted Urban’s face. “Stede?” His expression fell. “No . . . did he—”

“No. I wasn’t forced.” She pressed the fingers of one hand to her forehead and paced. Boone stepped out of her way. Did the man have to witness all of her humiliation?

She’d brought it all on herself.

Turn. Pace. Turn. The living room was large enough to get a little velocity going. If she went fast enough, maybe she’d defy physics and disappear.

She’d taken transcending for granted. “It was a mistake. A giant mistake.”

“Sierra, if the father is another angel . . .” Harlowe’s eyes were wide. “We have to check the records.”

“We’ve checked.” Sierra had been part of that. They’d researched all of the fallen in their history. “There’s nothing there.”

“The baby might not be able to be born on Earth,” Harlowe said.

“The father’s not an angel.” Now drop it. She couldn’t go back to Numen and she wasn’t giving birth in the creepy Mist.

“That leaves two options.” Sandeen was wiggling in his seat. “Human or fallen.”

Jagger’s sharp gaze stabbed into her and he got really still. “The reason we suspected you is because of a hint my father gave us. How did he know, Sierra?”

Jagger had figured it out. The truth was so atrocious he hadn’t dared speak it. But the unhappy knowledge glowed in his eyes.

She inhaled and exhaled. Inhale. Exhale. “He wanted me to keep you safe and I wanted him to keep Stede off the trail. It just . . . happened.”

“Pregnancy doesn’t just happen to our kind, Sierra.” Jagger stalked closer. She stood her ground. He had a right to be upset. This was her punishment. Her shame.

But Boone was there, blocking her.

“Get out of my way,” Jagger hissed.

Boone’s back was ramrod straight and blocking her view. “No, man. You back up.”

Fury rippled over Jagger’s face. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Then you won’t mind backing up.”

Jagger lifted his chin and met her gaze over Boone’s shoulder. “You get to him too?”

“You’d better stop right there.” Boone’s low voice sent delicious waves coursing through her blood. The only other male who’d protected her like him had raised her. Only Papa knew what she was. Boone didn’t. “She’s been through a lot and that baby’s been through a lot.”

The steam eked out of Jagger when Boone mentioned the baby. “That baby is my brother or sister.”

“Excuse me.” Sierra sidestepped Boone. “I’ve had enough of people making decisions for me. This baby? Is mine.”

“Have two fallen had a baby before?” Harlowe asked. “Will it have . . . wings?”

If only wings were Sierra’s worst fear. “I don’t know.”

Harlowe snapped her fingers. “Junie Perez. The fallen Director Vale and Odessa followed up on when Jameson was after Odessa. Didn’t she have kids?”

If only it were that easy. “She didn’t have them after her fall. They were adopted.” Jameson had told her that a fallen needed a purpose. It’d get them past the fear, move them beyond survival. Motherhood wasn’t just a purpose, it’d given Junie’s life meaning. She hadn’t fallen for nothing if she could give a home to children in need.

“Won’t she outlive them?” Jagger spun away, his brow furrowed. “My father was fallen for decades and he looked the same. Junie’s lack of aging is a serious concern for the senate. Along with . . .” He waved his arm in her vicinity.

“My baby isn’t the senate’s business.” Sierra’s tone could’ve frozen the Pacific. I don’t know what they’ll do to you, Sierra. You have to be better than other angels.

Papa hadn’t wanted her to become a warrior. He had tried to see her when she was in prison but she’d refused him. What she’d done was the ultimate failure. He’d given up his position as a warrior to raise her, to teach her what it