The Demon's Song - By Kendra Leigh Castle Page 0,7

one getting bitched at for making a mess in here.

Sofia didn’t seem to hear him. When she drew in a shuddering breath, Phenex saw the truth—she was terrified, almost beyond reason. That was when he felt it again, that rush of instinct insisting that he protect her. The words that fell from his lips came before he could think better of them.

“Hey. It’s okay. I’ll take care of it. Hang on.”

Then she finally did look at him, those sea-glass eyes burning bright. She looked like a hunted animal. The vampire at her feet gagged again, but this time he managed a word.

“Bitch.”

“I only see one bitch in here,” Phenex said, knowing that in seconds the vamp would be back on his feet and twice as dangerous. He strode forward, letting his hidden wings unfurl. They slid through his skin like water, then snapped out to his sides, enormous black things that had carried him to Hell and back. From between them he drew the weapon he always carried, a longsword, ancient and razor sharp.

The vamp tried to spring to his feet.

Only half of him made it.

Phenex grinned, pleased with himself. It was a nice, clean stroke, dividing the bastard neatly in two. It wasn’t until he’d cut off the head and stabbed him through the heart for good measure that he realized Sofia was less than impressed with the display.

Hellfire. Apparently bloodshed wasn’t her thing after all.

She looked more than a little green, gulping air as she stumbled into the stall the vamp had come out of, slipping in the rapidly spreading pool of blood. She only barely stayed upright, clinging to the edge of the stall and then dropping to her knees beside a woman Phenex hadn’t even noticed until now. She was sprawled on the floor, deathly pale, her streaky brown hair half in her face. The ragged bite on her neck was a splash of violent red against white.

“Sara,” Sofia rasped, her warm, husky voice barely more than a whisper. “Sara, stay with me. I’m here. You’re safe.” She tried to pull Sara into her arms, but the woman was dead weight. Without even touching her, Phenex could tell that this Sara would have a feeble pulse at best. She’d been nearly drained.

Though it went against everything he knew, Phenex folded his wings back until they vanished and wedged himself into the stall, nudging Sofia out of the way so he could pick up the mostly dead human. The look Sofia gave him was as venomous as any serpent in Hell. What surprised him was how it stung.

“Don’t touch her!” Sofia hissed.

He leveled a glare at her. “I’m no bloodsucker,” he said flatly. The very idea was revolting. He didn’t keep great company these days, but no one had ever mistaken him for a vampire.

He could feel Sofia’s eyes on him as he stood, Sara’s body dangling limply. He’d been right. There was only the barest flutter of a heartbeat. She was in the perfect state to turn into a vamp herself, given a willing partner. But he’d bet money that the now-bisected vampire on the floor hadn’t had any intention of making her an immortal.

Sofia rose, too, but rather than taking a swing at him, she wrapped her arms around herself, looking incredibly vulnerable. Touchable, even. Phenex bit back a groan. This was a hell of a time to remember he had a libido. And she was human, of all things. The source of every damned problem he could think of. He didn’t like humans.

He liked Sofia.

Phenex gritted his teeth.

She seemed to collect herself then, so quickly it happened in the blink of an eye. She shoved all that thick, dark hair out of her face, inhaled deeply, and fixed her eyes on a point somewhere over his left shoulder. When her eyes returned to meet his gaze, the anger was gone. In its place was a kind of forced calm that impressed him.

This one had a spine of steel. For a human, anyway.

“I don’t care what you are or aren’t. She needs an ambulance,” Sofia said, speaking slowly and clearly. Most wouldn’t have heard the faint quaver in her voice, but he did. He heard every tiny catch in her breath. It was almost like music. She hadn’t stopped being afraid, no. Only a fool would have. But she wasn’t letting it rule her.

“No,” Phenex said. The expression on her face was priceless.

“No?”

Sofia looked like she wanted to kill him. And for some twisted reason,