The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,43
have been tolerated in the first place. She’s back where she belongs.”
She? So many questions, and none of the energy to bother asking. She was still reeling from the pure evil that had touched her, whispered in her ear.
It was hard to associate Phenex with the creature that had taken such pleasure in terrifying her. Had Phenex ever been like that? She didn’t know. Right then, Sofia realized she knew almost nothing about him, except that he’d given his word to keep her safe. It was going to have to be enough for now.
But it wouldn’t always be.
“There’s only one place I know of you’ll be safe,” Phenex said, then sighed angrily. “This is going to cause some problems, Sofia. Just remember to blame me if anyone gives you shit. They’ll be more than willing to believe it.”
She looked up at him wearily, not liking the grim look on his face at all.
“Blame you for what?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he carried her up the stairs to the roof. She began to get a strange, not altogether pleasant feeling about what he was doing. “Phenex?”
The cold night air hit her like a slap, and she sucked in a breath. She said his name again, not a question this time but a demand. In answer, he strode to the edge of the building. As he moved, there was a rustle and snap as the beautiful black wings she’d seen once before spread out at his sides. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was going to do.
“Oh, God,” she said.
“Just hang on,” Phenex replied, and sprang into the air with a flap of his wings, rising, taking them both away from whatever danger still lurked below. Sofia tucked her face into Phenex’s chest, hiding it from the wicked breeze, and wondered whether she would ever truly be safe again.
Chapter Thirteen
The last place Sofia expected Phenex to take her was the club that had been the source of all her problems. But once he’d landed in a pool of shadow and set her down, Sofia turned on shaky legs to see the pale marble and graceful columns of Amphora.
Vampire central. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh hysterically or run screaming.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sofia said.
His reply was curt. “No.”
She turned her head to eye Phenex, who’d been perfectly silent on the flight here. That hadn’t bothered her. She’d been too busy hanging on for dear life to talk, her eyes squeezed shut and her teeth clenched. Now, though, she could see that he’d been just as affected by the sudden appearance of the demon—Belial—as she was. He was handling it differently, though. She felt unsteady, and she was perfectly willing to admit that it had scared the hell out of her. Phenex just looked furious.
If she wasn’t already used to him, the look on his face would have scared her almost as badly as Belial had.
“Come on,” Phenex said, catching her hand in his and beginning to pull her toward the club. “It’s still early. The restaurant and lounge will be busy, but it’s nothing like it will be later. And right now the crowd is mostly human, which is better for us.”
Sofia tried digging her heels into the pavement, but resistance was futile. It was keep up or be dragged along.
“I don’t want to go in there,” she said, and then got louder when he ignored her. “Seriously, Phenex. I don’t. What if he’s in there? What if a bunch of his…his minions are in there? He said he wanted to kill me and make you watch!”
Phenex didn’t break stride at all, though she could almost swear he’d flinched. But it was hard to tell, since he didn’t slow down.
“Of course he does, though he’d probably have someone else kill you while he sat on his ass and enjoyed the show. He’s lazy. He’s also one twisted son of a bitch.”
“I noticed.” Sofia tugged fruitlessly at her hand. “Damn it, Phenex, why are we here? You said we’d go somewhere safe. This doesn’t look anything like safe!”
He finally stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the entrance and turned to look at her. Sofia managed to wrench her hand away and glare at him. He’d gone from the surprisingly tender lover in the stairwell right back to this inscrutable, bossy, angry creature she wasn’t at all sure how to deal with. It was as disheartening as it was frustrating to see him shut down again.