The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,50

one could say it wasn’t his. There was a cast-off couch from Justin, some overstuffed velvet monstrosity that the vampire king hadn’t liked, either. Comfortable, though. A rug that didn’t match, which he’d lifted from a store aboveground. A couple of mismatched end tables, and his bird of paradise plant, an impulse buy that now looked like complete shit.

Mostly the house was just a place to hide from the rest of Terra Noctem and to store his instruments. He’d had the finest collection in Hell when he’d lived there, from pianos and harpsichords to guitars and violins and sitars, from the everyday to the exotic. He’d played and cherished them all. Well, apart from the occasional one he’d used as a projectile. But he’d left them all behind when he’d fled Hell. He didn’t want to think about what had probably happened to them. Demons were not exactly known for their appreciation for the arts.

“I’ve been picking up a few things here and there,” Phenex said. “It’s not much, so far, but I look for things when I have time. I, uh, like to collect instruments. I always did.”

He mostly had guitars right now, but he’d found a gorgeous baby grand that was filling up what was probably supposed to be the dining room, a Stradivarius violin that he’d liberated from some crusty old bastard’s safe, and a sax. He’d always loved the sax. He doubted Bowie would even miss the one he’d taken. And it wasn’t like the guy couldn’t afford to replace it. Plus…he loved having an instrument David Bowie had actually played. Not that he’d admit it, for fear of the others calling him a fangirl.

“Can you actually play all these?” Sofia asked him, still looking as though she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. She traced a finger down the mother-of-pearl inlay on a twelve-string acoustic, and he felt that light stroke as though she’d touched him instead of the guitar.

“Of course I can. No sense having them if you can’t play them,” Phenex replied. “It’s what I do.” What he was. How did you explain that to someone?

Sofia stepped slowly into the middle of the room, eyes moving over his small collection. He’d hung things on the walls, set them on stands. He guessed, to her, it might look like an orchestra was ready to set up in here, but what else was he supposed to do with this place? Buy more couches? He only needed one.

Then she turned and looked at him. “You said you were an Angel of Song,” she said. “I don’t think I really understood what that meant until just now.”

“I was the Angel of Song,” he replied quietly. “The only one.”

She smiled, though he didn’t miss the hint of sadness in it. Phenex shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want pity, but he didn’t think that’s quite what it was with Sofia. She seemed to want to know him. That was a recipe for disappointment, but telling her that wouldn’t make any difference. Stubborn woman.

“And when you fell?” she asked. “What were you then?”

He hesitated. It was a question he’d asked himself plenty of times. Then he said what he had finally settled upon as the truth, some time ago.

“I guess you could say I became the Demon of Song instead. I couldn’t change what I was. What I am. I was made for music. But…I lost some things in the process.” And that was a detail he hadn’t meant to share. He fought back the strange urge he had to just tell Sofia everything. He didn’t talk about this stuff. Not ever.

Whatever she saw in his face told Sofia that he’d said as much as he wanted to. She smiled instead, the brightness of it like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm.

“I thought you’d have a bunch of weaponry. And maybe booby traps. You’re pretty good with that sword.”

He couldn’t resist the opening. “You have no idea.”

“Hmm,” was all she said, her lips curving before she turned her attention back to his instruments.

She was so quiet. Phenex wasn’t used to it, and he decided he didn’t like it. He was the quiet, surly one. She needed to stay sunny, the opposite of the world he’d been living in. Yeah, it was selfish of him to want to bask in that, but that was the least of his vices. Maybe if he showed off a little.

“I could play for you,” Phenex said, trying to keep the excitement out