The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,41
that came out was a pathetic whimper, barely more than a breath.
“Hmm,” purred a soft voice by her ear, beautiful and awful in a way she hadn’t known was possible. Sweat beaded on her brow. She felt sick.
Whatever was in her apartment, she knew that the true danger had just found her.
“A bodyguard for the human? And not just any bodyguard…they gave you your very own songbird. You must be special, eh? And here I was thinking you were just a loose end to tie up. Another stupid talking monkey who stuck her nose in somewhere it didn’t belong. You killed one of my better recruits, you little bitch.”
She struggled to deny it, understanding now that whoever had left the door open had only done it to bait Phenex away. She’d been ridiculously easy to trap. Part of her wanted to see who was behind her, whispering in her ear. Another part was horrified by the prospect.
“N—” she tried to push the simple word out. “Nnn—”
“Don’t.” The silken voice turned poisonous. “Not a word. If you hadn’t walked in, Reichen would have been able to have his fun and vanish before anyone found the whore he’d been playing with. But no, you had to play hero. I heard all about it. I loathe boring little do-gooders.” She felt one long finger trail down the back of her head, over the curve of her skull through her hair, and whimpered. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. There was something in that touch that she knew would drive her insane if it lasted.
“That pathetic excuse for a vampire king is wrong. You’re useless, little human,” the voice crooned. “A pretty bit of nothing. You’ll have to die, you know. You look too stupid to know much of anything important, but one never knows. Besides, Reichen, was worth a thousand of you. Loyal, strong, vicious…”
“D—don—” God, why couldn’t she speak?
“Don’t?” A soft, humorless laugh. “Begging already? I’m going to make you wish I’d killed you quickly. But not yet. You’re going to give me something I want before I disembowel you and feed your entrails to my horde.” Whoever was behind her moved in closer. She could almost feel the lips against her ear. He whispered, and it was like nails on a chalkboard.
“Imagine my delight when I discovered who your protector is, little monkey. He and his friends are going to burn, but I want to take care of him most especially. He took something of mine, you see. Something valuable. I will have the retribution I am owed from that filthy traitor. Maybe the Phenex will sing us all a sad song when he sees your carcass. I think I’d like that. That’s what you’ll give me, you mewling bitch. I want to see the songbird’s face when I break something of his.”
He might have been discussing the weather, or an interesting place he’d visited. His voice was calm, almost cheerful. But the things he said were awful, making her stomach roll. Sofia began to shake, the only motion she seemed capable of. This man—or whatever he was—was serious. He planned to kill her slowly and painfully. Through sheer force of will, she was finally able to rasp out two words.
“Not. His.”
“Lies.” He spat the word. “Hellfire, you stink of him. Has he been all over you? In you? Of course he has. Weakness is drawn to weakness. Phenex’s weakness will be the end of him. I will see to that personally.”
Sofia gritted her teeth and tried desperately to regain some kind of control over her body. She managed to wiggle her pinky finger, though the effort nearly made her black out. She was going to die tonight. Right here, with help only feet away. She knew it with a certainty that was bone deep. Sofia thought of her parents, and her brothers, all of whom might as well have been a million miles away instead of just an hour… All she wanted in that moment was to see them again. The pain was as keen as the edge of a knife. As mocking laughter ruffled the hair by her ear with breath that was like a blast of heat, a tear slipped down one of her cheeks.
“Oh, are you crying, little human?” the voice crooned. “Such sweet tears. Perhaps I’ll lick them up.” She heard a soft rustle, and knew that she was about to see the owner of the voice that had gone harsh and raspy all at once,