The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,26

didn’t detract at all from his looks, she preferred his smile.

“So...your friend is kind of an asshole,” Sofia said.

His laugh, a soft huff of breath, was less than she’d hoped for. But it was a start.

“Yeah, he really is, most of the time. But for future reference,” Phenex replied without meeting her eyes, “the one thing you don’t want to give a fallen angel a hard time about is his lack of a soul. It’s kind of a sore subject.”

Sofia’s stomach sank.

“You really don’t have a soul? That was just a shot in the dark.” She didn’t care about having offended Gadreel, but Phenex hadn’t done anything to deserve it. His voice was cool when he answered her, his gaze still directed away.

“No. Angels weren’t given them. And demons haven’t figured out a way to steal them. So…either way we’re pretty much screwed.”

She couldn’t imagine. Just as she couldn’t imagine Phenex, with his overwhelming presence, simply ceasing to exist one day. Unsettled by the thought, she tried to defend herself. “He treated me like…well, like a talking monkey that could double as a sex toy. It pissed me off.”

Phenex’s lips twitched as his eyes finally shifted to meet hers again. “You’d be surprised at how many women go for it.”

She wrinkled her nose, relieved at the humor in his voice. “Not really. He’s so beautiful that they probably don’t hear a word he says.”

“You did.”

“Only because I find men who look like they spend more time on their hair than I do off-putting.”

Now he did laugh, a warm, rich sound that flowed over Sofia in a rush. It was a beautiful surprise. Even knowing him for so short a time, she got the impression that most of his amusement was of the cynical, jaded variety.

“It’s true. He preens. And he hogs the bathroom. You get used to it,” Phenex said.

Sofia smiled, though it faltered a little as she asked the question she couldn’t get out of her head. “So I know you told me you were a fallen angel last night, but...you were really in Hell? As in, an actual place full of flames and demons and”—she gestured, looking for the right words—“you know. Eternal punishment. Evil. And even demons wanted to kill you?”

Phenex sighed, shoved a hand through his hair, looked at the ceiling, and then finally back at her. “Yes, it’s a real place. And Gadreel was telling the truth, for once. Each of us was marked for death. We Fallen had gotten...complacent, I guess you could say. Eternity is a long time. The underworld never changes. Fight to tip the Balance, run herd on the tormented souls of the damned, be seen at the right parties, whatever. Some of us got tired of playing. Lucifer and the Council decided they needed to make a statement, shake things up, and for various reasons, I ended up on their list.” He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “We got lucky, I guess. All this new effort from Hell to tip the Balance into darkness has thrown the white wings for a loop. They needed extra help dealing with these massive outbreaks of low demons—you’d never want to run into one, I promise—and they were willing to pay, so...”

Sofia shook her head, amazed. “You’re mercenaries. Angelic mercenaries.” She’d always been willing to accept that there were more things in the universe than she could imagine or comprehend, but still, being hit over the head with all of this was an experience she’d never expected to have.

“Uh, we’re not angelic. You might have noticed.” Phenex pressed his lips together and exhaled loudly. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Here’s the deal. We have wings, we have to be on a side, at least nominally. In Hell, we were about to get tossed into a flaming river for entertainment. Up here, we work for the good guys and stay alive. So we slay demons and keep the Balance in shape, and deal with some extra things for the vamps so we have a protected place to stay. We get paid well, because it pisses off the white wings when we steal, and, best of all, we get to keep breathing. It’s weird, but I guess it works.”

Sofia raised an eyebrow. “So you still need protection.”

“Sure. No one in Hell knew what they meant to do to us except the Council, which is very small. To everyone else, we look like a bunch of traitors. Any one of the other Fallen would be happy to end us.