Free Fallen Angels 06 - Immortal by J.R. Ward Page A

frowned, wondering how that would be possible. Unless …
    No, this was definitely about Jim.
    Her eyes shot over to her vanity table. In between a Clarins clarifying mask and some Chanel Précision Sublimage, there was something that didn’t have jack-all to do with makeup—and ordinarily she wouldn’t have been able to tolerate the discordance of objects.
    But this one got special dispensation.
    It was the hood ornament of her own Mercedes S550 4Matic—and for once, she wasn’t rushing to get the thing put back in its proper place. In fact, she’d broken the neck off herself … because that trademarked circle with its intersecting lines had a very special accessory of its own: When she’d hit Jim with her car the other night, he’d been clipped by the front hood, and a little part of him had been left behind in the ornament’s metal.
    That residue in the very molecular fiber of the steel was how she’d managed to get into his house, into his bed, and oh so close to seducing him while pretending to be Sissy.
    It was a one-way connection, though. So there was no way he could use it to get to her—
    From out of nowhere, a wave of pain rang her chest like a bell, as if she’d been shot or stabbed. But there was nobody around. Nobody up above.
    And yet something was wrong, something …
    “Jim…?” She walked forward. “Jim?”
    Suffocation followed. The kind that made her feel like someone had their hands around her throat. Or maybe a rope. Abruptly, she reached up to grab at that which wasn’t there, opening her mouth so she could breathe.
    Fucking hell, she was now the salesguy from the hotel, her access to air cut off by an unseen force.
    Except it wasn’t suffocation in the true sense. This was … an emotional pain so great it literally robbed her of the ability to inflate the lungs she pretended to have.
    “Jim!”
she screamed, the dots connecting to a terrifying conclusion.
    Vaporizing her physical form, she entered the HVAC system ductwork and shot through the innards of the building, expelling herself into the open air through a vent and shooting off in the direction of that old house he stayed in.
    Faster, faster, faster …
    She knew the very moment he left the coil of the earth: A lancing agony overtook her soul, sure as if she had been cleaved in half.
    Storm clouds gathered in her wake as she landed on the front lawn of the property he rented, and she rushed for the front door—
    The barrier she hit was a brick wall that didn’t exist, an invisible, impenetrable force field that repelled her so hard, she fell back on her ass. Looking up in panic, her frantic mind couldn’t figure out what the fuck it was—but then she caught sight of a subtle red glimmer. The bastard had locked her out with an additional, stronger spell.
    Except it didn’t last.
    With Jim’s life-force having been extinguished, his protection spell lost its source and gradually peeled free of the house, retreating from the roof and freeing up from the walls.
    The inevitable recession was like watching him die in front of her, seeing his life slip away.
    “Jim…” she groaned as the last of it disappeared.
    Scrambling to her feet, she ran forward and went to the windows of the parlor. With shaking hands, she leaned into the bubbly old glass and cupped her palms, peering through …
    The moan that rippled up through her tight throat was a release of agony. Across the parlor, Jim lay in a shambled sprawl on the floor, his arms and legs helter-skelter, as if he had fallen back without trying to stop himself or protect against the impact. Silver blood was everywhere down his chest, a gaping slash in his throat the cause of the tidal wave.
    There was a crystal dagger in his right hand—that was stained with more of that mercury-like substance that filled his veins.
    Clearly, he’d taken someone with him.
    Such a hero, she thought as she teared up.
    And yes, opposite him, Colin the archangel was a shadow of his powerful