He grinned, pulling back just a little as she turned her head to look at him. Those
seawater eyes had warmed considerably, though her wariness was still stamped clearly
across her face.
“Me,” he said, and she surprised him by laughing, a low, husky roll of sound that
had every muscle in his body clenching.
“You’ve got a healthy ego, huh?” she said, and Phenex drank her in, from the way her
brow arched with amusement to the way she angled her body into his as she spoke to
him. He already knew how she would fit against him.
Perfectly.
“I’ve got—”
“Sofia! There you are!”
Phenex jerked his head toward the sound of another woman’s voice, instantly annoyed
at the interruption. He was even more annoyed at the relief that flickered across
his companion’s—Sofia’s—face.
Sofia
. It suited her perfectly.
A petite blonde, looking far more like the humans this place usually attracted, hurried
over to grab Sofia by the hand. She glanced at him once, and he saw the usual mix
of attraction and nerves he inspired in the opposite sex. Her voice was unsteady as
she began to babble. Sofia, he noted, looked pointedly away from him.
“I’ve been looking all over for you. I think I found Sara. I...uh...” She looked at
Phenex again, trailing off, and he could see she didn’t want him listening in on this
conversation. Bemused, and interested despite himself, he stayed put. Figuring out
what these two were up to was much more interesting than dragging himself back into
the nightclub.
Sofia turned her head, and the way her eyes skimmed lightly, longingly, over his face
filled him with an ache he was suddenly sure she wasn’t going to assuage.
“I’ve got to go. It was nice meeting you...”
“Phenex,” he said softly.
“Phenex,” she repeated, and he found he loved the sound of his name on her lips. Sofia
gave him a small, puzzled smile, as though she was trying to figure him out. He was
happy to stick around and let her try, but it seemed she was finished with him.
For now.
“Later, Phenex.”
“Later,” he agreed, wondering if she knew he meant it. Then he turned and watched
Sofia walk away, enjoying every seductive swish of her shapely backside before she
vanished into the crowd. He’d find her again before the night was out. That was a
promise he made himself, the only sort of promise he never broke.
With a frustrated sigh, Phenex turned in the other direction and headed back to the
stage.
Chapter Two
It was a struggle not to turn around, but Sofia Rivera managed. Barely.
She could feel Phenex’s eyes on her as she walked away. Big, beautiful, intense blue
eyes.
Phenex
. What kind of a name was that? It was probably made up. And yet, somehow, it suited
him, from the dark copper color of his short, tousled hair to the long, lean lines
of his body. He had the sort of angular face she was a sucker for, and he was so...
tall
. Which was to say nothing of the obvious muscles beneath the ripped jeans and plain,
fitted T-shirt. Or that voice, the thing that had caught her attention before she’d
even really looked at him. It was the most compelling voice she’d ever heard, soft
but impossible not to hear. Even though he’d been speaking, it had been like listening
to some exquisitely sung melody.
She really, really needed to focus on the task at hand.
Sofia shook her head a little, wishing it could be that easy to clear away the lingering
cloud of lust she’d stumbled into, and turned to the petite blonde looking nervously
around them.
“Would you stop looking so guilty, Amy?” Sofia muttered. “If we were going to get
busted, it would have happened by now.”
“I know, I know, I just... The vibe in here is a little weird, don’t you think?”
Sofia glanced at some of the people they passed as they moved deeper into the room
that functioned as a swanky cocktail lounge and silently agreed. She’d expected the
place to be full of beautiful people. Amphora was the opposite of a dive bar. Still,
there was something almost creepy about how perfect some of these people were. Pale
and young and gorgeous, with eyes that glittered strangely in the dim light provided
by the modern-looking sconces lining the walls. She fought off a shudder and kept
moving. She and Amy had come here for one reason only, and it wasn’t to see and be
seen with DC’s most fabulous.
If it had been, they wouldn’t have taken the risk of sneaking in through the kitchen,
a ploy that had only succeeded because their roommate worked here. Whenever they’d
gotten a strange look, they’d just giggled, acted completely clueless, and asked where
Sara Morgan was since she’d asked them to bring her forgotten wallet from home.
So far, it seemed that they were in without trouble. But no one had known where Sara
was—at least, not that they would say, despite the fact that Sara always worked weekends—and
that was a problem.
That was, in fact, why they were here. Operation Rescue the Roommate.
Sofia just wished she had a better idea of what they were rescuing her from. And whether
Sara would even allow it.
“I thought you said you found her. Where is she?” Sofia asked. Amy rocked up on her
tiptoes and craned her neck.
“I swear to you, I caught a glimpse of her just a few minutes ago. She’s in here.”
Amy gave her a dark look. “And she sure didn’t look like she was working.”
Sofia felt a measure of relief at that. The three of them had been friends through
college, then roommates, and even though Sara had been pulling away for a while, Sofia
still cared what happened to her. First had come the job at Amphora, cocktail waitressing
while Sara kept hunting for a full-time job at a law firm. That was fine. But then
had come the stranger and stranger hours, the phone calls Sara didn’t want to talk
about, and just lately, the long stretches of days away from the apartment with nothing
but short phone messages left when she knew the other two wouldn’t be around to answer.
Sofia was worried...and so was Sara’s mother, judging by the number of calls from
Mrs. Morgan she’d been fielding.
Amy felt the same. So here they were. It wasn’t ideal, busting in and ambushing Sara
like this, but where else were they supposed to try to talk some sense into her when
she’d basically broken off contact?
“Great. Maybe we can drag her into a broom closet and read her the riot act,” Sofia
said, suddenly uncertain about all of this. What if Sara just told them off? That
was a distinct possibility. It wasn’t until just now that Sofia realized the deeper,
darker reason she’d felt compelled to come here tonight.
She’d begun to worry that Sara hadn’t returned home because she couldn’t. Because
something bad had happened.
Anger was fast on the heels of Sofia’s relief. Sara was here having a good time? Great.
Nice of her to let them all know she was alive and well. They’d been friends for what,
six years now? And this was what they got?
Sofia looked behind her and caught a glimpse of a familiar head of brown hair streaked
with red heading out the doorway they’d just come in through.
“Damn it,” Sofia said, spinning on one spindly heel and dragging Amy back in the other
direction. “There she goes. And you’re right, she’s not in her work clothes. She’s
with some guy.”
One of the preternaturally gorgeous, unusually pale guys, to be exact. Nerves pooled
in the pit of Sofia’s stomach. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was
off
here. The brief glimpse of Sara’s face had shown her friend laughing, but also looking
almost feverish, her eyes glassy, two bright points of red riding high on pale cheeks.
“She looks weird,” Sofia told Amy, who stumbled as she tried to keep pace.
They headed back down the wide corridor, past the spot where she’d been nearly run
over by Phenex just a couple minutes ago. She found herself irrationally disappointed
that he was nowhere to be seen. Sara had vanished as well, but there was really only
one destination in this direction.
“Nightclub,” Amy said, her brow furrowed, then looked at Sofia with a wry smile. “We’re
in one of the most exclusive clubs in DC. There’s a line out front down the street.
I feel like this should be more fun.”
Sofia huffed out a soft laugh. “Once she tells us to get lost, we’ll stay and get
drunk on overpriced booze. At least we know she’s alive and well.”
She had the fleeting thought that maybe she’d get another chance to see Phenex, then
immediately discarded the idea. If he was in here, he was out of her league on any
number of levels. No man who looked like that, and who was probably rich to boot,
was going to be seriously interested in a twenty-five-year-old nurse from nowhere
special who’d sneaked in wearing a borrowed, non-designer dress.
Still, the way he’d looked at her...
“Wow,” Amy said, slowing so that Sofia was dragging her. “Do you hear that?”
Pulled out of her own thoughts, Sofia slowed, too, and really listened. What she heard
stopped her dead in her tracks.
“Oh,” was all she could say, and it was more a sigh than a word. Drifting out of the
curtained archway that led into Amphora’s main nightclub was the most beautiful voice
she’d ever heard, singing a song she vaguely recognized. Whatever the song was, though,
it had never been done like this...that she knew.
The memory of Phenex’s wonderful voice whispered through her mind:
Here for the show?
And the half-remembered item slung over his shoulder, something that had barely registered
considering how much else there’d been to look at: a guitar.
Now she understood. The show really
was
him.
Sofia managed to put one foot in front of the other, feeling strangely dazed as she
moved to the doorway, then through it, brushing heavy velvet aside. Bouncers on either
side only glanced at her. They obviously thought she belonged here, even if she knew
better.
Amy murmured something beside her, but Sofia’s attention was completely captured by
the sight of the man on the raised platform on the far side of the room.
Perched on a simple stool, alone under the lights, a lot of musicians would have faded
into the background of a place like this. Not Phenex. He seemed to fill the entire
room, that magnificent voice flooding every nook and cranny. Sofia watched the way
he coaxed the notes from his guitar
—
long, elegant fingers dancing over the strings
—
and swallowed hard. Everything that had been in her mind vanished but for the desire
to feel those hands on her.
His gaze shifted suddenly, and in an instant he’d found her in the crowd. It was almost
as though he’d sensed her come in. That was crazy...but no crazier than the way she
nearly melted into a puddle on the floor when their eyes met.
“Sofia!”
Amy’s voice was a soft, insistent hiss in her ear. Sofia drank in a quick, shuddering
breath and pulled her eyes away from Phenex, feeling slightly disoriented. She’d never
met a man with the kind of power he seemed to wear like a second skin. Even looking
at him was like being drugged. It was seriously disconcerting.
“Sorry,” Sofia said, feeling ridiculous. It wasn’t like her to lose her mind over
a guy. Especially not some random, pretty singer...though she guessed the “pretty
singer” part worked well as an excuse.
Amy rolled her eyes. “Yes, he’s gorgeous. But Sara and the guy she’s with just headed
for the restrooms, back behind those curtains over there.”
Sofia sighed. “We corner her in the bathroom?”
Amy nodded, her jaw set. She looked like an angry pixie. “We corner her in the bathroom.
Let’s do this.”
So they did, winding through the crowd. It wasn’t as slow going as it might have been—almost
no one moved into their path, everyone much more focused on the man entertaining them.
When they reached the ladies’ room door, they looked at each other. Sofia took a deep
breath.
“Okay, so when we get in there, we say—”
She was cut off by a soft female gasp that echoed on the other side of the door. It
might have been one thing if it had been a sound of pleasure. But it was accompanied
by a muffled cry that was anything but.
Sofia didn’t think. She pushed open the door, surprised to find the lights off in
what, at first blush, was a cavernous, luxurious restroom. There was an awful, wet
sucking sound coming from the direction of the stalls, shapes Sofia could barely make
out.
“Get help,” Sofia said flatly. She flipped the light switch, then strode in before
she could talk herself out of it. All that mattered was that her friend was in here,
and she was being hurt. Whoever this asshole was, he had no idea what was about to
hit him.
It took her only seconds to find the stall they were in and kick open the door, adrenaline
coursing through her system. Still, whatever Sofia had expected to find, it wasn’t
what was in front of her. Sara was sprawled across her companion’s lap, her limbs
gracelessly flung in all directions. The tight-fitting little black dress Sara wore
was, up close, a shocking contrast to the whiteness of her skin. Even more shocking
was the man whose face was buried in Sara’s neck,
sucking
. Sara’s big brown eyes rolled up to meet Sofia’s, silently pleading.
Sofia shouted, some furious, incoherent sound of fury. She watched, horrified, as
the man raised his head, glaring at her with burning red eyes. He opened his mouth,
snarling like a feral animal.
Fangs. He has fangs. He can’t have fangs, he can’t—
Then he lunged for her, his inhuman scream ringing in her ears.
Chapter Three
Phenex knew something was wrong the minute Sofia disappeared into the curtained alcove
where the restrooms were. Centuries of expertise in causing trouble had given him
a sixth sense when it came to finding it.
Funny…she hadn’t struck him as the type to attract problems. Then again, she attracted
the hell out of him.
Not really caring how it looked, Phenex cut the song short and stood. He set his guitar
on the stand, ignored Luc’s glare, and leaped lightly from the stage. In a series
of steps so swift they were invisible to human eyes, he was standing at the curtains.
He knew he’d get an angry lecture later for using his power so openly here with so
many humans around, even though he doubted any of the mortals in attendance would
even notice what had happened—a blink, and he’d been gone. Still, the vamps took great
pains to hide themselves. Small wonder. Vamps might not be hunted by demons, but they
were
hunted. Yet his rapid movement had been necessary.
He smelled blood.
The little blonde who’d taken Sofia away from him turned just as the ladies’ room
door swung shut. She jumped a little when she saw him, but none of the fear in her
wide eyes was for him.
“Where is she?” Phenex growled.
“She said get help. Sofia. Something’s wrong. Sara…and the noises…” Her hands fluttered
nervously up to her throat, and she’d gone as pale as some of the vamps in here. Even
if he’d been a creature inclined to comfort, he wouldn’t have. The smell of blood
was everywhere, thick as molasses, cloying.
“I’m the help. Stay here.” Phenex slammed into the bathroom just as a high-pitched,
feral scream filled the small room, echoing off the tile. He bared his teeth, fangs
deadly sharp in their own right, and launched himself at Sofia just a split second
after a dark shape came flying out of an open stall toward her. The instinct to protect
was as overwhelming as it was unfamiliar. In that moment, all he knew was that he
needed to be a shield…
her
shield.
The vampire’s scream stopped abruptly with a choking gurgle, but Phenex never made
contact with either Sofia or her attacker. Instead, he found himself springing to
his feet empty-handed on the far side of the bathroom, whirling to engage in the fight
he knew was coming.
I missed her…how did I miss? I never miss…
It was a shock to see Sofia land a hard punch to the vamp’s windpipe and then slam
her foot into his crotch before hunching into a fighting stance. The well-dressed
vamp staggered, then crumpled, clutching his throat and collapsing to writhe on the
floor. He wouldn’t be down long, but somehow, this beautiful, out-of-place human had
managed to save herself, at least for the moment.
Phenex could only stare at her, torn between irritation and admiration.
“You’re going to want to finish him off before he gets up,” he finally said. If Sofia
had a bloodthirsty streak, he figured, that just made less work for him. And he wouldn’t
be the 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, the heat in
her eyes was one of the most erotic things he’d encountered in centuries.
The door to the bathroom thudded open, and Phenex felt relief flood him when Justin
and two other vamps strode in. One was leading Sofia’s friend, who was obviously thralled.
Her eyes were glazed, and she smiled vacantly at him. He had to admit, the thrall
was a handy trick the vamps had. They’d needed an adaptation like mind control to
survive here among the humans for so long. Unlike their kind, angels—fallen and otherwise—had
never been meant to hide themselves, had always been meant to set themselves above
the beings most of his dark brethren likened to talking monkeys.
So he had no thrall in his arsenal, just wings, fangs, and a big-ass sword. For now,
it worked, but no one could accuse the Fallen of subtlety.
“What the hell happened?” Justin demanded, reddish eyes darting from Phenex to Sofia
to the body in Phenex’s arms. “Most of the humans didn’t hear the screaming because
of the music, but there isn’t a single vampire here who didn’t! If this is your idea
of fun…” Then his gaze settled on the various pieces of vampire on the floor, and
understanding dawned. He shoved a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. Phenex
thought he looked as though he was praying for patience, and he smirked, amused.
“Oh. Great. One of
these
.”
“One of
these
? Does this happen a lot here?” Sofia’s voice fairly vibrated with outrage. Phenex
looked down at her, enjoying the way she was glaring at the vampire king. Justin was
far too nice, in his opinion, but he doubted many humans had looked at him this way
and lived to tell the tale. Sofia didn’t seem to have any inkling of the danger she
was surrounded by, though, even now. In fact, she seemed to be struggling to keep
her patience with them.
“You know what? I don’t care,” she said. “I don’t know what you people are, or what
this place is, but my friend is
dying
! The guy on the floor was…was…
eating
her! Sucking her blood! She needs
help
!”
Justin locked eyes with Phenex. “Well?”
Phenex shrugged. “Still alive. If you’re going to do something about it, better be
now.”
Justin heaved a sigh, then gestured at one of the two vampires who’d come in with
him. “Amir,” he said to the tall, dark-haired vamp, “if you would.”
Amir gave a short nod, then stepped forward. Phenex gladly gave Sara over into his
arms. This turn of events wasn’t unexpected. Justin had too strong a sense of justice
to let the human die if he had any say in it, and turning her wouldn’t take much at
this point. Amir wouldn’t exactly be exerting himself. The man arranged her against
him so that her bite mark didn’t show and left swiftly.
“Is she going to be okay? I want to go with her. Amy and I should go with her.”
Phenex looked down at Sofia. “Careful what you wish for.”
A flush stained her cheeks, but she didn’t look away from him.
Brave little human. You have no idea what
I’m
wishing for.
Justin cursed softly. “This is a mess. What happened?”
“These two came in tonight looking for their friend,” Phenex said. “They found her,
plus some extra.”
One dark brow winged up. “And you showed up in here why?”
He’d be damned all over again if he answered that one truthfully. “I smelled blood.
And I’m good at finding trouble.”
Justin seemed to accept that at face value, which was a relief. “True enough.” He
shook his head. “I’m starting to think we have a problem.”
“You’ve got lots of problems.”
Justin laughed again, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “Add a couple more to
the list. We’ll talk back at the, uh…home.” He eyed Sofia as he continued speaking
to Phenex. “I’d been hoping I was being paranoid, but I should know better by now.
I’ll need your help. You and the others.”
Phenex shifted his weight and hooked a thumb in one belt loop. “You usually do.”
Justin looked at the remaining vampire by his side, a sandy blond who looked as though
he might have been a surfer in his mortal life.
“Trey, take Amy home. She should be able to tell you where to go.”
“As you wish,” Trey said, his formal manner completely at odds with the way he looked.
He gave Justin a small bow, then led Amy from the bathroom. Sofia watched them go,
her brows drawing together. Her tension was rising again. Phenex could feel it radiating
into him, through him. It worried him, how aware he seemed to be of her every mood
and movement.
“What about me?” Sofia asked.
“Good question,” Justin replied. “Right now, you’re the only witness to this who’s
in any kind of shape to be of use. I’m just not sure how useful one frightened human
can be.”
Sofia’s golden skin paled. Phenex heard her breath begin to catch again. It was all
he could do not to gather her into his arms and nuzzle her.
The urge was appalling. And appealing.
He began to feel even more doomed than usual.
“This can’t be happening,” she said softly. “This is nuts. It can’t be. Wings and
fangs and cutting guys in half…” It surprised Phenex when Sofia looked not to Justin,
but to him.
“Please,” she said. “Whatever this is, I don’t want any part of it. I just want to
know that Sara’s okay, and I want to go home. Please.”
How many poor souls had begged him for mercy over the course of his long life, Phenex
wondered? And not one had pulled at him the way Sofia’s simple “please” did. He wasn’t
sure what that said about him, but he was pretty positive it was nothing flattering.
He would have been insulted if it had been.
His eyes moved between Justin and Sofia. Justin’s reddish eyes were steely. Sofia’s
were full of her simple plea. Between the two, he knew what he had to do. It was what
he had always done…and yet somehow, this time, there was little satisfaction in it.
Phenex leaned down to Sofia, breathing in the sweet scent of her.
“No,” he said softly.
And with a single word, he crushed her hope.