Demon Angel

way to free you again, Lilith, I swear it. Just come back."
    She yanked her hand away, and rose up, slanting her mouth over his before he could move. Delved deep, capturing the flavor of him. Holding it tight and pushing it down within herself; then, abruptly, she pulled away. "I do not promise," she said, breathing hard.
    He touched his lips, where the moisture from their kiss lingered. "This is enough."
    It is nothing . Her hand clenched, but she did not speak; he would know her denial for a lie. She walked away, her heart thudding painfully.
    She could not love him. Would not love him.
    Should not love him.
    She did not turn around, or look back. Of course she didn't. Hugh let out the breath he'd been holding, then shrugged out of the remains of his robe. Slipped into the sweater, smiling to himself.
    "Lilith left a satchel for you in the room," Colin said from behind him, then strode past him toward the stairs. "Green canvas. Ugly."
    Hugh's smile faded. Without a word, he returned to the bedroom and shut the door behind him.
    He watched as Selah looked up at him and disappeared from the bed; the chains that had been holding her fell back against the coverlet. Hugh waited, and she reappeared a few moments later beside him.
    Why ? He gestured with one hand. A modified version of British Sign Language—one of the changes the Guardian Corps had been willing to incorporate over the years to allow silent communication amidst creatures with preternatural hearing.
    The Doyen said to protect them , she signed back, her mouth twisting. The vampire would have let me stay if I had flattered him, but you know Lilith would have soon as killed me as accept my help . She shrugged, and pointed to her neck with a grin. "It hasn't been all bad, but his vanity knows no bounds."
    He's neither as shallow nor as useless as he appears , Hugh warned. Nor harmless. Where is Michael now? Why protection ? Is there a specific threat against them ?
    Looking for the nosferatu; he's been tracking them, trying to determine the demons' and nosferatu's movements, make some sense of them. And not a specific threat—just that they have tried to attack the vampire several times, only to be chased off or killed by the hellhound. Michael believes the nosferatu are aware of your relationship to the vampire, will use it against you or her in some way, or else there is no reason to focus on him . Her head tilted, as if she listened to a conversation Hugh couldn't hear. "Are they truly friends? They are squabbling like children over the cost of keeping the dog."
    "Yes." Hugh rubbed the back of his neck and kneeled beside the bag. The files were in the white envelope at the bottom. He reached in past the swords, and his fingers brushed cold, thick metal. The gun she'd offered at her apartment, and he'd refused. "She shows her affection in unusual ways," he murmured.
    He pulled it out, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and stuck it into the back of his waistband. He'd have to give it to Colin before he went home; should the police ever decide to search his house, he didn't want it among his things.
    Selah sat on the floor next to him, again in his line of sight. A frown marred her brow. You didn't tell her I could have 'ported out of the chains at any time .
    Hugh paused with the envelope half-opened, raising both brows in an expression of disbelief. Do you want a demon—on her way to Hell — to have fresh memories of you and your Gift? You and Michael are the only two to move between realms without the use of the Gates; Lucifer would not dare attack Michael to gain use of that power, but a young Guardian ?
    Do you not trust her?
    I think that Lilith will do whatever it takes to return to Earth. I trust her to act in her own interest, and perhaps in mine; I don't expect her to extend the same courtesy to you.
    But you could have given it to her to use as a bargaining chip.
    His smiled turned bleak. If she is forced to resort to bargaining with Guardian powers, then it is too late to save her; it would buy her but little time .
    Selah sighed, cocked her head to the side again. "She is gone; the vampire is on the stairs, coming this way."
    His chest tightened. Gone. And her position so precarious; had he made the right decision, to force her to respond to him? He felt Selah's searching stare, the question she did not ask. "No. I'm not the man you knew."
    "In some ways, perhaps," she said dryly. "But your loyalties lie in the same place."
    "Has