Chapter Four
She might still be in one piece, but Sofia felt as though she was the one who’d taken
the punch to the windpipe.
“No?” she repeated, turning her head to look into eyes that were fathomless up close.
Inches away from her, Phenex’s breath feathered her mouth, almost a kiss. His lashes,
long and dark, lowered as his eyes dropped to her lips, as though he’d been thinking
the same thing. Heat flooded her cheeks.
Phenex said nothing, just shook his head slowly from side to side, silently reinforcing
that simple, biting word.
No
. Maybe she was imagining it, but he looked almost sorry. He was also completely focused
on her, his interest so intense that she felt every hair on her body prickling with
awareness. It took a surprising amount of effort to remind herself that she was standing
in a blood-soaked bathroom with an inhuman corpse and two men who didn’t seem to be
anything like humans. Sofia turned her head, breaking eye contact despite the sharp
pang of regret it produced. This wasn’t exactly hookup time on the dance floor. He’d
grown wings.
Wings
. Enormous, beautiful, black ones, complete with feathers. After which he’d sliced
her friend’s attacker neatly in half with a sword he’d brandished as if he were some
ancient warlord.
Focusing on the gore, and on the slim, dark-haired man staring at her with eyes that
gleamed red no matter how she tried to convince herself they couldn’t be that color,
worked quickly to clear Sofia’s head. Still, instead of backing away, she found herself
moving closer to Phenex. It might have been foolish, but he’d already protected her
once.
Hopefully, if things went south here, he’d be inclined to do it again.
“What’s your name? And no games, please. I’ll know.”
She looked at the man with the red eyes and knew he was telling the truth. “Sofia
Rivera,” she said, wishing the words had come out less tentatively. He gave a curt
nod.
“Miss Rivera,” the man said, his voice commanding but not exactly unfriendly. “I’m
Justin, the owner of Amphora. No one here is going to hurt you. But before I let you
go, I need to know what exactly happened. Did you know the man your friend was with?”
It was strange. He gave no order, didn’t issue any threats. And yet, the longer Sofia
looked into those dark crimson eyes, the more she felt as though she could tell this
man anything, that she wanted to tell him
everything
. Her thoughts were slowly enveloped by a pleasant fog, and she heard herself speaking
as though from far away.
“I...I’ve never seen him before...” The word “master” nearly fell from her lips before
Phenex’s voice interjected, beautiful but razor sharp, dispelling the fog as quickly
as it had rolled in.
“Knock it off, Justin. She’ll answer without you laying it on so thick. Sofia didn’t
do anything.”
Sofia blinked, startled at the speed with which she came back to herself. The room
reappeared in sharp relief, from the sea of red on the tiled floor to the two men,
each unusually handsome in his own way, glaring at each other.
“
Sofia
can answer for herself, I’m sure. I’ll take care of this, Phenex. You’ve got a crowd
to entertain, and I’ve got a mess to get cleaned up. I told you, we’ll talk later.”
Phenex crossed his arms over his chest, and Sofia saw, with a wave of relief, that
he had no intention of going anywhere. The expression he wore was arrogant, unimpressed,
and decidedly mulish.
She wondered, suddenly, if it was a mistake to be putting so much faith in him, so
blindly. Still, right now, he was all she had.
“It’s fine,” Sofia heard herself saying. “I’d rather he stayed.”
The man—Justin, Phenex had called him—looked almost comically surprised, though he
recovered quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Phenex’s smirk.
Oh, God, what had she gotten herself into?
“Suit yourself, then. What can you tell me, Sofia? May I call you that?”
“Yes, please,” she replied, finding his formality bizarre. She wished she was still
with Amy, and anywhere but this blood-covered bathroom. “I didn’t know him. The one
he was”—she couldn’t bring herself to say
biting
—“attacking is my roommate Sara. The blonde who just left is my other roommate, Amy.
We came looking for Sara tonight because she’s barely been home lately. Her mom is
worried, we were worried... She hasn’t been right since she started working here a
few months ago. It was only getting worse, and things had gotten to the point that
this was the only place I thought we might be able to see her. So we—”
“Sneaked in,” Phenex finished for her. When she turned her head toward him, he looked
as amused as he sounded. “I knew you were up to no good.”
He looked too appreciative of the fact for Sofia to really be offended by the observation.
Anyway, he was right. Or partially right. Whatever her intentions had been, not much
good had come of this trip. Then again, Sara was still alive. She hoped. This mess
would be worth it, Sofia thought, if that held true.
Justin’s sigh was exasperated. “Phenex. Not helping.”
“We came in through the kitchen,” Sofia admitted. “I said we’d brought Sara her wallet,
since she was supposed to be working tonight. And that’s about it. We saw her with
that guy, followed her in here, and I found...what I found.”
“And then punched what you found in the throat and the nuts,” Phenex said. “You take
martial arts?”
“I’m an ER nurse at Georgetown,” Sofia replied, a little unnerved by Phenex’s casual
attitude about violence. Then again, she reminded herself, that was probably one of
the least unnerving things about him, all things considered. “I know how to handle
myself.”
He looked intrigued, and there was a flicker of that sensual smirk. “I bet.”
There was no mistaking his meaning, and Sofia had to force her attention elsewhere.
What kind of a guy hit on women in situations like this? What kind of women
liked
it? Her kind, apparently, Sofia thought, utterly disgusted with herself. She turned
her head to watch Justin frowning at the mess that had once been a fanged psychopath.
When Sofia forced herself to look more closely at the head, those fangs were still
very much in evidence. She went cold as the harsh reality of the situation hit her
again like a bucket of ice water. Fangs. Wings. And her friends were gone.
“Are Sara and Amy going to be okay?” she asked, the panic she’d so successfully kept
at bay trying to work its way up the back of her throat again. Staying calm in crazy
situations was one of her gifts, a thing that helped her excel at her job. But even
she had her limits.
“Amy is being returned home as we speak,” Justin said, which was comforting until
his eyes went carefully blank. “Sara is going to require extra care for a while. You
shouldn’t worry. We’ll get it sorted out.”
She felt slightly ill. “Are you kidding? Of course I’m going to worry!”
Justin shrugged, an infuriatingly casual gesture considering what they were standing
in the middle of, and what Sofia had just seen. She glared at him helplessly as frustration
joined fear to twist into a hard knot in her stomach.
“She’s one of my best friends,” Sofia said, struggling to keep the urge to scream
in check. “I got that monster away from her. I at least deserve to know what’s going
on.”
“You already know more than you should,” Justin told her. The look he gave Phenex
was decidedly beleaguered. “Go ahead and gloat, Phenex. You Fallen were right. Hiring
humans was a bad idea.”
“Told you.”
Sofia’s chin went up as she looked between them. “If I’ve already seen too much, then
a little more information can’t hurt.”
To her surprise, Justin smiled then, a startling flash of humor in a face that was
as serious as it was handsome. It was gone before it could even begin to set her at
ease, but there was a softening in the way he looked at her that helped the raw nerves
she was contending with. It gave her some small amount of hope that she would walk
out of here in one piece. Still, her friends…
“You don’t cower, do you? I can appreciate that.” Justin drew in a deep breath and
looked away, appearing to be in deep thought about something. At her side, Phenex
leaned over to murmur in her ear.
“Relax. He isn’t going to eat you.”
She turned her head just enough to give him a sidelong glance. He didn’t seem to have
any trouble being completely in her personal space, something that normally would
have bothered her. Now, the fact that it
didn’t
bother her bothered her. Especially because he seemed a lot more dangerous than Justin
did.
“Nothing about this is funny,” she hissed back.
“Sure it is. Humans just have no sense of humor.”
His amused disdain for her, well,
species,
did nothing for Sofia’s ragged nerves. An acid comment rose to her lips, only to
be banished by Justin’s sudden reentrance into the conversation.
“Fair enough. I know you’re telling the truth, Sofia. I just wish you knew more than
you do about what went on here. As it is, I’m going to have my hands full with…this…for
a while.”
“Aren’t you going to call the police?” she asked. Justin’s reddish eyes narrowed,
and for an instant she caught a glimpse of what he must be like when he was truly
angry. It would be terrifying, she realized. Phenex might be bigger, but Justin was
deadly in his own right. Like the guy in pieces on the floor. Except far, far more
competent.
“We take care of our own problems here,” he said, his voice deceptively cool. “I suggest
you heed that, unless you want even more attention from my kind.”
“What
are
you?” Sofia didn’t realize she’d asked out loud until it was too late to take the
words back. She blamed the shock now setting in, making her shiver, fuzzing her thoughts.
But that didn’t make the question vanish. Some part of her already knew the answer.
She just couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it.
I’m no bloodsucker,
Phenex had told her, seeming offended that she might think so. Justin simply arched
a dark brow.
“You know what I am,” was all he said, then turned the subject with businesslike precision.
“You’re free to go, provided you can keep tonight to yourself.” He tilted his head,
his gaze intense. “I think you can, actually. Unusual. Which is why I’ll give you
a choice I didn’t give your friend. If you’d rather just forget everything, I can
accommodate that. She won’t even remember coming here tonight. I can do the same for
you. You’d be happier.”
“No,” Sofia said, sure of this if nothing else. “I wouldn’t.” She didn’t want anyone
messing around with her thoughts, erasing memories. Justin didn’t look surprised,
though there was something calculating in the way he was watching her that she didn’t
like at all.
“I can provide you an escort home, at least.”
Sofia was already backing toward the door, treading carefully around the blood. “No,”
she said, hardly able to believe he was letting her go so easily. “No, that’s fine.
I—I’ll get a cab. Out front. But thanks. Really.”
That sudden flash of a smile again. “No thanks are necessary. I appreciate the fact
that you’re managing to stay so calm. Your injured friend will be in touch. Soon,
I’m sure. And, of course, you’re always welcome at Amphora.”
The coppery tang of blood filled her nostrils, and the room suddenly seemed too bright,
too harsh, too everything. Sofia drank in a gulp of air that she hoped wasn’t too
noticeable as her stomach started to roll again. Reality was catching up to her…and
all she wanted was to be far away from here when she finally lost it. She’d dealt
with injuries that most people could only imagine, functioned in situations where
normal people would have broken. But she’d never feared for herself, or questioned
her own sanity, quite like this.
“I’ll…yeah. Okay,” she said, shooting one more look at an obviously puzzled Phenex
before she felt the door at her back and pushed it open. A few steps and she was out
in the crowded club, where everyone but the tall, muscular man discreetly stationed
right outside the bathroom door seemed oblivious to the bloodbath that had just occurred.
That, or it was just so ordinary to him that he didn’t care.
And no one would ever believe her if she tried to tell them, so Justin didn’t need
to worry about that. She just wanted to go home.
Sofia suffered only the briefest moment of hesitation as she watched the bathroom
door swing shut, her eyes meeting Phenex’s for a single, electric second.
If this were somewhere else, some other night
, she thought wistfully, but then stopped herself. He wasn’t human. That wasn’t changing,
and she needed to get out of here before somebody decided to bite
her
. She straightened her shoulders, turned on one spindly heel, and walked away as fast
as she could.
When she hit the front doors, heels be damned, she ran.
Chapter Five
“Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Phenex glared at Justin as a section of wall slid away on the far side of the bathroom
and a group of vamps with heavy-duty cleaning supplies and a reinforced body bag hurried
in as silently as ghosts. Justin murmured a few instructions to the leader of them
before beckoning Phenex to follow him back into the hidden corridor.
The fallen angel sighed irritably, but there weren’t a lot of choices if he wanted
to know what the vampire king was up to. He was working some kind of angle, he had
to be. You didn’t just pat the witness to a vamp attack and subsequent murder, however
justified, on the head and send her on her way. He’d only barely managed to keep from
following her out himself. Maybe then she would have tried some of those defensive
moves on him. The thought made him smile. He’d never let anyone pin him, but with
Sofia, it might open the door to all kind of possibilities.
Resigned, Phenex stepped through the hidden doorway into a dimly lit corridor that
he knew ran, mazelike, behind the walls of the entire building. If you didn’t know
where you were going, or how to open the doors back into the club proper, you could
wander in here forever. He’d heard rumors that more than one curious human had been
pulled out starving and half-crazy—and he didn’t doubt them. Justin could be annoyingly
soft when the mood struck him, but never when it came to security. The man was a soldier
through and through.
All the more reason why Phenex didn’t get what had just happened.
Justin walked a few paces away before turning and waiting. Phenex stalked over to
him, keeping his voice low.
“Well?”
Justin looked annoyed, a good sign that he hadn’t just decided to embrace mercy on
the off chance it would buy him a little redemption should anyone ever manage to get
a stake in him—which was unlikely.
“Give me some credit, Phenex,” Justin said. “I’m having her followed. Like I said,
this isn’t the first time we’ve had to bring out the cleanup crew recently. I’m starting
to think there’s an organized group of breakaway vamps trying to use Amphora as their
own personal feedlot. It needs to stop before we
do
end up in a situation where I can’t keep the police out of it.” He ran a hand through
his short crop of hair, the first time he’d let his agitation show. “You know how
much this could ruin.”
Phenex did, though most of the sympathy he mustered was out of a desire to preserve
his own comfortable living situation. The vamps, weres, and other night creatures
of Terra Noctem needed the freedom to feed, the safe-from-human-eyes jobs, and the
steady cash flow that places like Amphora provided. When it worked and everyone followed
the rules, Amphora was a bridge between day and night that drew humans and supernatural
beings alike. If things started to fall apart, it was going to get dangerous on both
sides.
And he’d be stuck in the middle. Without making overtime, no doubt. The angels were
picky about only paying for the work they’d specifically doled out, which usually
entailed cleaning out pockets of low-level demons in areas where they were threatening
to tilt the balance between light and darkness in what Heaven deemed to be the wrong
direction. Dirty work, and lots of it—enough that the angels had gotten desperate
enough to pay for help in the first place. But protecting Terra Noctem was expected
to be, much to his continuing annoyance, gratis.
“You could have said something,” Phenex grumbled, caught off guard by the depth of
Justin’s concern about the situation. He and his brothers had been out of Hell for
over a year now, and even if they hadn’t exactly kept out of trouble, they were earning
their keep. It would be nice to be in the loop at the beginning more often. At least
as a kind of “thank you” for not wrecking anything so far. Well, anything big. The
other stuff was the fault of the demons they were paid to hunt down. Mostly.
Justin shrugged, frowning. “I didn’t know what I was looking at. I still don’t.”
“Could be demon involvement. Though Uriel would probably have already shown up if
it was.” The archangel, for all his annoying righteousness, had an amazing nose for
demon-related trouble. And Uriel just
loved
that he now had a band of black wings to take care of it. Just thinking of the Heavenly
golden boy had Phenex curling his lip. Uriel seemed to be looking at the renegade
Fallen as some kind of weird pet project.
He didn’t need to be anyone’s project. All he really needed right now was a stiff
drink.
Justin was mulling what Phenex had said. “You’d think Uriel would have shown up, yes.
That he hasn’t tells me that it’s either an all-vampire problem, or some kind of vamp-demon
side project that doesn’t threaten the Balance. Which means we’re on our own.”
“You mean
you
. I hunt demons, not vamps.”
“No, I mean
we
. You’re blood-bound to protect Terra Noctem now, remember? Whatever threatens it.
Raum and Meresin are off demon-hunting, but Levi should be back soon from wherever
he sneaked off to. Caim, Murmur, and Gadreel are just taking up space down there right
now.” His eyes narrowed. “Especially Gadreel. Which gives me plenty of firepower to
take care of this before it gets any worse.”
Phenex grunted. “More than you need for this sort of thing, if you ask me. You know
we don’t leave much behind but smoking rubble.”
Justin’s razor-thin smile surprised him. “Which is exactly why I want you on it. An
example needs to be made, and soon. That should be much easier to accomplish now that
we actually have survivors.”
All at once, Phenex got it. Of course Justin had let Sofia run. It even made sense
in a way he normally would have approved of. But this time, this one time, he found
himself bothered. It caught him completely off guard.
“Damn it, Justin, you’re using her as bait?”
Justin’s brows winged up. “Yes. And?”
“And nothing. She’s going to end up dead before you figure anything out.” The renegade
vamp wouldn’t have been alone in the club. His companions would have been out there,
watching, waiting. Sofia’s flight wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. “Who’s following her?”
“Daegan, for now. Amir tagged him on his way out.”
Phenex threw his head back and gave an infuriated growl as he curled his hands into
fists. “Daegan? Seriously?”
Justin’s expression darkened, but Phenex ignored it. He didn’t care whether the vampire
king enjoyed having his decisions questioned or not. It obviously needed to happen
more often if he was going to do stupid things like this.
“He was available, and he’s plenty competent,” Justin said flatly.
“He’s also functionally illiterate and he scratches himself so often you’ve got to
wonder what he does in his off-hours,” Phenex pointed out. “Daegan. Hellfire, Justin,
you’ve got better than that!”
Justin bared his fangs. “If you’ve got a better idea, I suggest you tell me before
I follow Sofia’s lead and punch you in the throat. Except by ‘punch’ I mean ‘rip out
your vocal cords so I have some peace until they grow back.’ I’ve found three half-dead
humans in this place in the last month, and now I’ve got a brand-new accidental vampire
down below. This is pressing, and I’m not in the mood for any Fallen bullshit right
now.”
Phenex snorted, amused despite himself. Getting under Justin’s skin wasn’t usually
so easy, but it was always entertaining.
“Touchy, touchy,” he said.
“Phenex.” It was, he knew, the final warning before Justin made good on his threat.
Not that the vampire would win, but he didn’t need any bad blood right now. Not if
he wanted to get his way without a lot of immortal bitching.
“It’s simple,” Phenex said. “Call off Daegan. I’ll play bodyguard until you get this
sorted out.”
Justin frowned. Blinked. Then frowned even more deeply. “What?”
“You heard me. I’ll watch her. You’re welcome.”
“Phenex…” Justin shook his head when he trailed off, then gathered himself to try
again. “Phenex, that’s…an interesting offer…but I’d rather have you—”
“Tough shit,” Phenex interjected. The longer this took, the farther away Sofia got.
“I’d rather be sitting on that beach you and Vivi hooked up at, playing my guitar,
and getting paid not to do anything. But I’m here, and Sofia needs to stay alive while
you try to figure out who you need to kill. My brothers hunt, I guard, and you don’t
lose anyone. Everyone’s happy.”
Justin looked at him blandly. “You’re never happy unless you’re giving me a headache,
any of you. And for somebody who struts around like some mysterious demigod you’re
about as transparent as glass, Phenex.”
Phenex just shrugged. He didn’t answer to Justin, or to anyone, as long as his decisions
didn’t endanger Earth. He was pretty sure that wanting Sofia Rivera in his bed didn’t
qualify as upsetting the Balance, the precarious equilibrium between light and darkness.
Though that body of hers might inspire him to try things that would.
Justin rolled his eyes to the ceiling and exhaled loudly through his nose.
“Fine. If this is what it takes to get you to lighten up, fine. But until someone
makes a move on her, keep out of sight. I need them to think she’s alone. Most vamps
aren’t going to get anywhere near you voluntarily.”
That made him smile. “Damn right. I’ll draw demons, though, if they’re involved. I’ll
wait and see, but I don’t think it’ll take long.” He sure as hell hoped not. Hiding
himself from Sofia wasn’t exactly the plan. Phenex turned away, giving a disinterested
wave behind him. He had what he wanted. “Later, Justin.”
“Yeah, great. Thanks for, what, two songs?”
“Three. And you’re welcome.”
“You owe me.”
“Whatever.” Phenex headed for the nearest exit, his power beginning to pulse in time
to the beat of his immortal heart. Justin, Amphora, his ever-growing stack of obligations…everything
vanished in the face of the hunt. He could barely wait to unfurl his wings and begin.
Justin muttered a few curses in a long-dead tongue under his breath, watching Phenex
go. Then he turned and stalked away.