The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,19

head, then locked eyes with him. He was as startled by her sudden intensity as he was by the flash of white heat he felt in that instant, accompanied by an inspired fragment of song that flickered through his consciousness. It was gone as quickly as it came, impossible to catch hold of, but as sweet as spreading his wings in the moonlight. He didn’t know what to make of it. He hadn’t composed in centuries. That part of him had gone as dead as what passed for his heart. Unnerved, Phenex shifted on the couch, hunching a little as though he could defend himself against the strength of this attraction.

He wanted, needed to be in control here. Floundering around like some…well, like some human was out of the question. He was a supremely powerful being, damn it.

And her words burned right through him.

“I don’t want to die,” Sofia said quietly.

“You won’t.” The words came out more harshly than he’d intended, but that didn’t seem to faze her.

“Can you promise me?” she asked. “Can you absolutely guarantee, give me your word that I’m going to survive this?”

It was a struggle to conceal his surprise. Nobody ever banked on his honor. It was assumed that he had none. His word had meant nothing for eons. He ought to be amused by Sofia’s naïveté. But he wasn’t.

Truth be told, he didn’t know what he felt. With Sofia, he was still stumbling around—willingly—in the dark.

“You did catch the part about me being a fallen angel, right?” he finally said. “My word isn’t worth much to people.”

Sofia’s glaze was intense. “You helped save my butt twice already. If your word is still worth something to you, then it’s worth something to me.”

He found himself nodding. “Fair enough. You’ve got my word, Sofia. I’ll keep you alive.”

She exhaled harshly, and it was only then that Phenex realized how badly she’d needed his guarantee. That she was actually depending on him. He couldn’t quite remember the last time he’d been in a similar position. His most important relationships worked because of mutual self-interest. They sure as hell weren’t grounded in honesty and integrity.

He had a sudden, overwhelming desire to jump out the window and take wing until he got his head back on straight. Instead, he forced himself to stay put.

“I still can’t quite believe that this is happening.” She sighed, and he finally realized just how tired she looked as she shoved her hair out of her face, propped an elbow on the arm of the chair, and rested her head in her hand. The coffee didn’t seem to be helping with alertness…there were shadows beneath her eyes. What she’d seen had been eating at her, he realized. And why wouldn’t it? Not everyone was as accustomed to seeing—and causing—gore as he was.

The guilt that hit him was sudden and unpleasant. Guilt was one of those things he’d been glad to leave behind millennia ago. He didn’t intend to pick it back up now.

“You need to go to bed,” he grumbled. And he needed some space. Sofia’s green eyes were instantly wary. He would have laughed, if his mind hadn’t gone into the gutter right along with hers. That was a good start, as far as he was concerned.

“There are still a lot of things we need to work out about this,” Sofia said. “And I’ve got a lot of questions.”

“I bet,” Phenex replied. “They can wait until tomorrow.”

“You’ll actually answer them?”

He smirked. “Probably not. But you can ask them.”

“Great,” she said flatly. “Look, Phenex, you’re welcome to the couch, I guess, but I have no idea what Amy’s going to think when she comes back. She’ll be home around four, and she isn’t going to recognize you in the dark.” She frowned. “Actually, she won’t remember you at all, will she?”

“No,” Phenex replied. “Justin said they wiped her memory pretty clean. She didn’t need those images in her head. You, though…not that it would have changed things if you’d wanted to forget, but it helps that you remember the big, dangerous-looking yet incredibly handsome guy following you around. Saves me ducking a restraining order.”

The hint of amusement at the corners of her mouth had his jaw tightening. The woman had no idea how appealing she was. He wished she’d tone it down, just a little, so he wasn’t quite so tempted to put her to bed himself and then crawl in after her. He already knew they’d both enjoy it. But he was pretty