The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,61

her increasingly sad.

Amy was right. None of this was like her. Of the three of them—her, Sara, and Amy—Sofia had always been the straight arrow. Maybe it was watching her parents struggle to build a good life for her and her brothers. Maybe it was that she’d had to work so hard to put herself through college, knowing how much she would be wasting—and how many people she’d be disappointing—if she failed. But to her, everything was important. She took nothing lightly.

And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t take the way Phenex looked at her, the way he touched her, lightly, either.

It would probably be better for both of them if she could. But even Phenex seemed to want something more than what he’d offered her. She just wished she knew what it was…if he even did.

Phenex curled one wing around her back as they walked toward High Street, a habit he’d developed that she liked. Especially down here, where every time she walked out the door she felt as though there were hundreds of eyes on her. The two of them made their way down cobblestone streets, some narrow and winding, others wider, all of them dark and strangely charming. Sofia was just congratulating herself on gawking less when an enormous black wolf dashed by her, closely followed by a gray. Her mouth fell open, and it was several seconds before she realized her feet had stopped moving. Phenex’s warm chuckle finally turned her attention.

Phenex looked down at her, a smile curving his lips. “One of the northern packs is in town right now. They’re a little wilder than some.”

“Oh.” Sofia closed her eyes and shook her head, her laugh rueful. “How do you ever get used to this stuff?”

Phenex shrugged. “This place isn’t so weird.”

“Hmm,” was all Sofia said. They obviously had different definitions of “weird.” But it would figure that a guy who had once lived in Hell would have a much different baseline for that sort of thing. Strange, that out of all this, he was the thing that seemed most normal to her.

They got moving again, and soon reached the bustling street Sofia had first seen as she was standing at the mouth of the tunnel from Amphora. It was lined with interesting little shops and a variety of restaurants, some catering to tastes Sofia would rather not think too deeply about. The lamps and lit windows gave everything a warm glow, and everywhere, Sofia could feel the pulse of magic. Music drifted into the street. There was so much here that was lovely, she thought. But then she looked up into a darkness that contained no stars, or waited for a breath of fresh night air that never came, and was reminded all over again that this wasn’t her place. The darkness was deep here. And forever.

But if she thought of it as the strangest vacation ever, it was okay.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Phenex said, again jolting her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to look at him, surprised to see how intently he was watching her. Had he been doing that awhile? She hoped not. Which meant he probably had.

“Oh, I don’t know. Just tired, I guess. My hours are more messed up than usual down here,” Sofia said.

Phenex’s brow creased before he looked ahead again. “Yeah. You’re a little pale. You feel okay?”

His concern was sweet, if no longer quite a surprise. No matter what came out of his mouth, Phenex’s actions said it mattered what happened to her.

“I’m fine,” Sofia said. She paused, then added, “I really need some fresh air, Phenex, and some sun. I’d like to go aboveground tomorrow before work and just sit in a park or something. I don’t care how cold it is. I feel like I’m wilting.”

“You look way better than my bird of paradise,” he offered.

Sofia raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure that’s dead, but thanks.”

He leaned in close, his mouth just a breath away from her ear. “When we get home, I’ll perk you up. Promise.”

She shivered, both at the heat in his words and at the words themselves. Home. So appealing to imagine having one with him. But not here.

A shout and a flash of light pulled Sofia abruptly from her thoughts.

“Great,” Phenex muttered. “Somebody’s in a mood.”

Just outside of the restaurant they were headed to, a glowing little gem of a place with “Flicker” etched into the stone above the arched door, a figure Sofia immediately