Demons Like It Hot (4 page)

“Nothing new, unfortunately. Like I said a million times, you’ll be the first to know when I do.”

“If Kalli doesn’t pick it up on her radar first.”

Kalli and her radar. Oh, Serah knew it wasn’t a real radar, but it still impressed her just the same. Anywhere in Connolly Park there was some sort of demonic activity, Kalli was there to either kick ass or clean up. Quite impressive.

“Trust me. Kalli’s radar won’t see any unauthorized demons here.”

“And I never expected demons to destroy my salon, either.”

“But—”

A blast of cold air slammed into Serah, swirling and churning as ice crystals danced in the air. Fog rolled up and filled the office. Goose bumps bubbled up, making the hairs at the back of her neck stand at attention. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the AC was on the fritz. But she knew that the churning ice and fog meant something else—Rafe was on his way. And from the size of the ice storm brewing in her office, he wasn’t alone.

“Get out of the way, Serah. You’re standing in Rafe’s poof space.”

Poofing was what Lucy called
Peragrans
. Apparently it was Latin for traveling. Now Latin, a language Serah thought was dead, reared its ugly head. She never was any good at it in Catholic school. Lucy, on the other hand, could speak and read it better than those holier than thou nuns. And she didn’t even need to study.

“Is it always like this?” Serah asked, frost rolling from her mouth. Ice sliced through the air. Winds gusted and spun around them. She caught her breath and pushed her way to the corner of the room. She’d never seen a
Peragrans
before, only heard Lucy’s stories. Lucy only traveled once and said that was enough for her. Being only half-demon, it really sucked all the energy from her. For Rafe, and many full-blood demons, though, it barely affected them.

“Not usually. I’ve never seen a double poof before.” Lucy yanked at the pink sweater clinging to her curvy form. Dark blonde hair whipping in the wind, she steadied herself. Well at least Serah wasn’t the only one affected by the winter storm brewing in her office.

“I know it’s almost December, but isn’t this a little strange?”

Lucy managed a chuckle, despite the ice pelting her face. “Sorry, but that word is no longer in my vocabulary, along with weird, fucked up, and a few others.”

“Point made,” Serah gasped out.

Ice and snow still spun as two bulky figures formed in front of her eyes. Winds whipped and wound around, and the frost bit at her skin. She pulled her arms closer in an attempt to keep warm, but the cold remained relentless, surrounding her, slicing into her chef’s jacket.

The winds died down. Ice and snow drifted and melted away. The bitter cold evaporated into the mists. All that remained were two ice-covered hunks. All the descriptions Lucy had given her in the past few months did not compare to the volatile beauty she saw. Sure it may have been cold enough to freeze off an extremity or two, but fascinating just the same.

With a flick of his head, Rafe flung ice and frost from his hair. Dusting off the leather jacket that clung to his every muscle, he let his silver eyes gaze around the room. Spotting Lucy, a wide smile arched his lips. Even though he tried to hide it with all his pomp and pride, he was a man in love. And there wasn’t anyone but Lucy worthy of that love.

Just like that, Serah’s dreams of a spinster sisterhood went up in smoke.

Then it happened. The other hulk shook the ice from his thick, massive body. Any words she wanted to speak died on her lips. Her breath caught. Her heart thumped. She could only stare. Then his gaze met hers. Eyes the color of the darkest onyx burned into her, sending shivers racing from her head down to her toes. Not because it was cold, but something else. Something dangerous.

Biceps flexing, he flung the remaining chunks of ice from his short, light brown hair. A well-chiseled chin under a pair of strong, yet unsmiling, lips. Wonderful. Another demon with an attitude. But there was something about this demon that unnerved her. No hint of Infernati scent lingered in the air, yet her senses were on full alarm.

“Where are we?” His voice, deep and baritone, hit her like a brick. Her breath caught again. Her legs turned to mush. What the heck was happening? What was the deal with this Adonis standing in the middle of her office?

“Serah’s office, it appears.” Rubbing fingers against the stubble on his chin, Rafe scanned the room. “Don’t tell me there was another
incident
.”

Arching an eyebrow, Lucy flashed a wary glance at Serah. “No imps or demons involved this time, fortunately. I wish I knew what was going on.” She glanced at the man and back to Rafe. “So everything’s been arranged?”

For some reason Serah didn’t like the sound of that. She squirmed in her pumps and rubbed the tips of her fingers together. What exactly had they arranged?

“Yes, sweetie.” With a quick peck to her cheek, Rafe took Lucy in his arms and crushed her to him. “I missed you.”

Lucy ran her fingers through Rafe’s hair. “I missed you too, Rafie-Poo.”

The mystery man cringed. Well, they had one thing in common. The intense aversion to public displays of affection and silly nicknames.

Serah snuck another glance at him. Hot damn. He could give Rafe a run for his money in a Mr. Universe competition. Here she thought Rafe was sculpted. This guy, though… holy shit! An army green T-shirt strained against well-defined pecs. The faint outline of his abs traced down to the waist of his olive green khakis. A pair of black lace-up combat boots completed his outfit. G.I. Demon reporting for duty. Go figure, even demons had Rambo tendencies.

She thought they all wore leather. Rafe always did. The image of this man in black leather flashed in her mind. Her mouth watered. God, she hoped mind reading wasn’t this guy’s demonic talent. Can you say awkward?

Jaw rigid, he crossed his arms. Stoic and silent, he turned and strode toward the window overlooking the not-so-rapid River Rapid. Muscles rippled with each move he made. This afforded her another view of his
ass
ets—just as well formed as the front. He grabbed the windowsill and exhaled—the first sound she heard him utter since the three words he spoke earlier.

A mixture of emotions collided inside. Part of her melted at the sight of this rock-hard specimen of a man. The other part, the more sensible part, wanted to run away in fright. Today, however, sensibility would win. She would make sure of it.

Serah finally managed to speak. “So who’s your friend?”

Rafe scraped a chunk of hair from his brow. “Not a friend—a colleague.” He turned to the other man and crossed his arms. “I suppose introductions are in order.”

The guy growled—a common sound where demons are concerned—and, keeping his well-endowed backside to her, pulled away from the window. Whoever he was, he sure didn’t want to be here. But if what she heard about the Fore-Demons was true, most Paladins never ended up where they wanted. Karma, she guessed.

“Ambrose, enough brooding already. Join us now.”

Ambrose? A name to go with the face. A name to go with the attitude too, apparently. Stuffy and arrogant—a common affliction among demons. Brooding was the understatement of the century. This guy was as unyielding as a concrete wall. Not a real good conversationalist either. She snuck another glance. He jerked his head, as if the very sight of her would turn him to stone. Little did he know, he didn’t need her help with that. He did it well enough on his own.

The usual lack of interest from men didn’t normally affect Serah, but for some reason this man’s blatant unconcern left her frustrated, angry, and even a little disappointed.

Two could play this game. His pride seeped into her. With a haughty lift of her chin, she crossed her arms. Lips pursed, she angled an attempt at a nonchalant glance. In a not-so-Oscar-worthy performance, she drew out a long annoyed huff and spun away from him. Melodrama was another of her fortes.

Lucy arched her brow and snuck her a surreptitious glare. “Wow, is it just me or did it get even more icy in here?” She turned her glance back to egomaniacal ass-hat. “Definitely a cold front for sure.”

Rafe strode to the guy and gave him a healthy tug of the shoulder. “You’ll have to forgive him. This is a new type of mission for him.”

“Welcome to Earth,” Lucy said, extending her arm. “I’m Lucia Gregory. You can call me Lucy.”

He nodded and took Lucy’s proffered hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Lucia.”

Ouch. What a way to break out the formalities. Too bad he didn’t know how much Lucy hated being called by her given name. Wars had been started over less trivial things.

Serah decided to break the ice—almost literally. “Lucy. Only her mother and her cronies can get away with calling her Lucia.” She stuck out her arm and offered him her hand. “And I’m Serah SanGermano, Lucy’s friend.”

The man’s onyx eyes met hers again. This time they lingered. Even within their abysmal darkness, a heat burned. Despite the fire burning in his eyes, shivers and chills crept along her skin. He hesitated, then allowed his fingers to brush along hers. A shock of electricity replaced the chills. She should’ve pulled her hand back, but she couldn’t. His fingers encircled her hand and his grip grew firm.

Heat rocketed through her. She stifled the gasp that was near bursting from her lips. Her head spun. All this from a touch? What the heck was going on?

He hesitated again then shook. “Seraphina.”

Serah contained the cringe that threatened to release. And here Lucy thought her given name was horrendous. Hers took the cake. What were her parents smoking when they named her? Something that made them fly, apparently. Little did they know, she was no angel. There was only room for one of those in this town. Then again, knowing Connolly Park and all its weirdness, there were probably more.

Lucy snickered. “Seraphina? You gotta be joking.”

“Shut up,” she muttered. With a yank, she pulled her hand from Ambrose’s grip. Quite a feat too. “If I hear you mutter anything more about how much you hate your name, I’ll knock you upside the head.”

“I didn’t know it was secret. My apologies.”

More importantly, how did
he
know her real name? Maybe it was his demonic talent common one at that. At least two demons she knew had the ability to read minds. One of which was in the kitchen working her
magic
.

“Guess it isn’t anymore.”
Poor
Nonni.
She always told Serah to keep her name a secret. Heck, she was all for that. She hated that name. It made her feel like one of those chubby-cheeked little angels. Who would’ve known her secret would be let out of the bag by a six-foot-four wall of pure male muscle with dark, black, swimming eyes.

Damn it! This was nuttier than she originally thought.

“You know so much about me, yet I know so little about you.”

“I am Matthias Ambrose. I’m here on a mission.”

More missions? What now? She angled a teasing glance at Lucy. “Don’t tell me you opened another box of demons.”

Lucy snorted. “Nope. I added not opening up creepy chests on my list of New Year’s resolutions. Remember?”

“Oh yeah.” How could she forget those crazy resolutions? Serah’s was to avoid buying anything creepy. So far, so good. It was almost December and she’d managed to avoid A-Line Road Antiques, the New Age shop, and the local mission store. Wherever creepy things abounded, she tried her hardest to stay away. She even found a way to block Amazon and eBay on all her computers at home and at work. Who needed fire walls and Internet security, when you had Demonware 2.0?

“Well, I have a kitchen to run, I’ll let you all go off to wherever demons go to discuss their missions.”

“We’re discussing the mission here,” Rafe said, his gaze stern and steely. “With you.”

“But I’m not a Paladin. Heck, I’m not even a demon.”

Matthias’s eyes sparked, albeit only briefly. “But you are something.”

“Of course, I’m something. I’m one kick-ass caterer.” No way in heck would she be anything else. She saw what Lucy went through. Even though everything worked out in the end, she didn’t wish the same for herself. Lucy was smart, if not a little lucky. Serah, on the other hand? She wasn’t so fortunate. She struggled all throughout grade school and high school and the closest she’d ever come to Lucky were designer jeans. And after looking at that $100 price tag, she didn’t feel quite that lucky at all.

Matthias drew his lips straight, his dark, abysmal gaze penetrating. “I didn’t come here to play games, Ms. SanGermano.”

Despite the anger and frustration welling inside, Serah returned her own penetrating gaze. “Well, that makes two of us, Mr. Ambrose.” She turned her gaze to Lucy and Rafe. “What the hell is going on?”

“Since you won’t tell us, and we can see you are in obvious danger, the Fore-Demon Council, Lucy and I have decided you need protection.”

“From a few imps? Come on. I’m fine. Really. Look. Kalli got it all cleaned up already.”

“No, Serah. There are forces out there worse than imps and goblins. Neither of us were harmed when my shop exploded like Old Faithful on steroids. Not a scratch on any of our heads when glass went flying. Tell me that’s natural?”