The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,23

his breath feathering her skin one last time before he straightened and jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Grab some food if you want it. Gadreel wouldn’t have come unless he wanted something, and he’s not going to talk until he eats.” Then he walked away to grab a plate for himself.

Sofia finally looked down at her rumpled scrubs, lifted a tentative hand to the rat’s nest currently masquerading as her hair, and sighed. It was a little late for vanity at this point.

By the time she sat down at the table with her coffee and a slightly obscene amount of bacon, Phenex and Gadreel had been munching and insulting each other for several minutes.

She slid into a chair between the two men, tucked one leg beneath her, and looked from one to the other as she tasted the bacon. It was, as expected, amazing. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Bacon made everything better. Even this, if not by much.

It took her a minute to notice that Gadreel had stopped eating and was watching her intently.

“Hungry?” he asked. Somehow, coming from him, that seemed like a loaded question.

“Well…ah…”

“You’ve got a very expressive face, Sofia. Did you know?”

Sofia swallowed, with some effort, and tried to look casual when she smiled. “I don’t have a poker face. No one in my family does.”

“With a face like yours, that’s forgivable.”

“You’re going to make her puke if you keep it up, Gadreel.” There was a warning in Phenex’s voice. Gadreel just grinned. He might be beautiful, Sofia decided, but there was something unnerving about him. Maybe it was just because she’d heard Phenex sing, but he seemed to have a depth of emotion that wasn’t readily apparent in Gadreel.

“I don’t think you came here to admire my radiant morning beauty,” Sofia said. “So you should probably just get to the point.”

Gadreel blinked, then chuckled. His laughter, to his credit, was much more genuine than she’d expected.

“Oh, I like you. Are you sure you don’t want me here instead?”

In response, she shifted, ever so slightly, closer to Phenex. “I think I’m good with the singing chef here, thanks.”

“Your loss.” Gadreel sniffed. There was a flicker of something crestfallen in his expression that surprised her, but it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. Had she really hurt his feelings? Did he even have feelings to hurt? Part of her doubted it. But then, there seemed to be a lot more going on beneath the surface than she would have thought with both Phenex and Gadreel. Even if they were…well, what were they? Demons, even though they’d left Hell for good? The thought was chilling. Silently, she cursed Phenex again for putting her to sleep before she’d been able to ask all the things she needed to.

“So,” Phenex said, “what did you get out of the vamp?”

The memory of the creature that had come after her last night almost ruined Sofia’s appetite. Almost.

“You interrogated him?” she asked Gadreel. It was easy enough to picture, but he shook his head.

“Not me personally. I was around, but Meresin was the one who had a…discussion…with him.”

“Meresin?” she asked.

“Another Fallen. He likes to play with electricity,” Phenex said. When she just stared at him speechlessly, he shrugged. “We all have our talents.”

“I…oh.”

“The good news is that we’re now certain that this is an organized group, and that they’re definitely targeting Amphora,” Gadreel said, taking a bite from another strip of bacon and wagging it at Phenex as he spoke. “Not only that, they’re planning to escalate. It’s going to get a lot bloodier around there. The recent stuff? Just boundary testing. Couple of dead vamps and a handful of pretty-drained humans. This Sara would have been the first human fatality. Doubt she’ll be the last, but that’s not the main goal.”

“What is it, then?” Phenex asked, then waved a hand and sighed. “No, you know what, it’s never that complicated with these bloodsuckers. I already know. This stuff is cover. There’ll be something bigger in the works. They want Justin.”

Gadreel took a sip of his coffee. “I’d say you’re astute, but you’re right. They’re just really, really predictable.”

Phenex shook his head. “Dumbasses. Justin’s been king for what, like two thousand years? Maybe he’s just lucky and only winds up with stupid enemies, but you’ve got to wonder whether they take into account the fact that he is what he is because he’s insanely tough to kill. How many are there this time? How long