then through the door to the second floor. Her eyes lingered on Phenex, so much that she nearly walked into the door instead of through it. Sofia didn’t blame her. He was impossible not to stare at. As it turned out, that was even more true when he was turned on.
And he seemed to have eyes only for Sofia.
“You ready?” he asked. Sofia nodded, thinking that was a loaded question if she ever heard one. She wasn’t going to change her mind, though. Being with Phenex felt right, even if her common sense had retreated to some darkened corner to cry.
They headed up the last flight of stairs, and Sofia couldn’t help but watch the way he walked, the way his clothes hugged him in all the right places with even the smallest movement. He was gorgeous, and tonight, he was all hers. And why not? She’d worked so hard, always played by the rules. For once, why shouldn’t she just indulge in something—someone—she wanted? Sofia inhaled on a wave of fresh desire, catching Phenex’s scent, and imagined burying her face in his skin. She wanted to explore him with her hands, her tongue…
Phenex growled softly as he pushed through the door onto the third floor, turning his head to glance back at her with a look that could have melted a glacier in seconds flat.
“Behave for just a few more seconds, or I’m going to have you right here on the hallway floor.”
Sofia’s mouth fell open. She was ready to demand he quit poking into her thoughts, or whatever he was doing, when Phenex gave a growl of a very different sort. It was the sound of a threatened and angry beast, and it had every hair on Sofia’s body standing on end.
“What is—”
Phenex held up a hand so sharply that it stopped her in mid-sentence. Then she saw the problem, and her heart sank.
Her door was cracked open.
She knew she’d locked it before they’d left, but it was very slightly open, revealing a sliver of darkness inside the apartment. Sofia looked at Phenex, every last lovely bit of her pleasure draining away. Anger was fast to replace it. It had been such a good day, she thought. Probably the best day she’d had in a long time, which had seemed to be moving into the best night she’d had in a long time.
And now this.
Phenex looked as though he was scenting the air, his head lifted just a little, eyes narrowed. Slowly, his lips curled, revealing the sharp incisors that had lengthened with his anger.
“Stay here,” he said, putting his bags of food beside the door. “I swear by all that’s Above and Below, these vamps have shit for brains.” He glanced around the short hallway, then reached back and drew his longsword from between his shoulders, pulling it from the air itself. “I mean it, stay put,” he warned her as he headed in, his voice low. She had just a glimpse of his eyes, glowing bright but cold, before he slipped inside. Sofia frowned at his back as it vanished. She had no intention of going anywhere she might get killed. She just hated that her apartment had become one of those places. Her pulse began to pound, the sudden burst of adrenaline making the harsh light seem overbright.
It made her wish she had a sword of her own. She hated being afraid, and hated feeling helpless just as much. This, all of this situation with the vampires, had brought her plenty of both.
Sofia listened, but it was completely quiet inside her apartment. There wasn’t a footstep, not a murmur. If he found anyone, they weren’t lasting long enough to make a sound. For such a big guy, Phenex was as silent as death.
The lights in the hallway flickered abruptly, then dimmed so much that the bulbs burned a soft, angry reddish gold. Sofia’s breathing caught, even as she tried to tell herself it was silly. She was out where anyone could see her. She had a big, dangerous protector within earshot. Nothing was going to happen to her.
Too bad that didn’t do anything to stop the terrible, creeping dread that slithered up her spine. The air felt heavier, pressing down on her until she felt glued to the floor, and the reddish tint to the semi-dark grew more pronounced. Her throat felt thick and strange when she swallowed, panic welling up like a scream. But when she tried to call for Phenex, the only sound