Demon Angel

not cruel, not a murderer—I will not break my vow." And he could not keep the rest from hanging unspoken between them. Even for you .
    She grinned suddenly, and said, "A vampire's life is nothing. Shall we bargain? A kiss, and I'll promise not to kill him."
    It was impossible not to agree; she would be bound by the bargain, and it was a small price to help secure his vow. Perhaps it was what saved the vampire that night, and those that followed; but as her lips touched his, he felt his destruction bearing down upon him.
    When had the price of saving her become his soul?
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    August 1857
    The moonlight cast long shadows across the graveyard; stone angels guarded houses for the dead, locked in endless prayer. They'd have been better served protecting the living.
    Lilith darted between granite tombs, her taloned feet silent over the red clay. It clumped between her toes; she paused and shook it off as she listened.
    The thick perfume of magnolias hung in the humid air, and the cicadas chirped their annoying tune. A psychic probe revealed nothing. No sign of the Guardian she'd followed here, or the human Selah had been protecting.
    Her breath hissed out between her teeth. Most humans wouldn't have been able to hide their minds from her, but this young man had much to conceal—from those humans around him, and that which he attempted to hide from himself lest it rage inside him.
    He'd do well to release some of that anger.
    Lilith's focus narrowed. There—a heartbeat, a low, quick breath. She called in her sword.
    Selah leapt out from behind a low wall, a tall blond figure in a white gown. Not to fight; she held the young man in her arms. His dark form was in stark contrast to her pale skin and wings. She raced toward a tomb, his slim arms clinging around her neck. Hardly older than fourteen, but of age to decide his future.
    With a triumphant laugh, Lilith gave chase. The Guardian was a fledgling, only recently returned to Earth after a century of training in Caelum. Lilith would have her skewered before—
    Oh, fuck . The tomb opened; Selah and her charge fled into the dark interior. Hugh closed the heavy stone door and stood in front of it, his arms crossed over his chest.
    He caught her wrist before she could bring her blade down on his head. She took hold of the neck of his robe and whirled, slammed him back against granite. The tomb shivered under the impact.
    Her eyes shone red across his skin. Her fingers wrapped around his throat. "She's your student?"
    "Yes." He stared down at her, his gaze hooded. "Let him be, Lilith."
    She snarled, her lips drawing back over her fangs. "Give him to me. You cannot save him; he will not leave of his free will. Not without his mother."
    "No. But driving him to murder will not save either of them."
    "It is justice. He is free, but his mother is not." Her hand tightened; Hugh didn't flinch. "Do you know what her owner does?"
    With barely a thought, Lilith shifted. Her black hair became an artful tumble of auburn ringlets; her breeches widened into hoops and skirts. Ridiculous trappings, in a ridiculous society.
    She pressed her lips to his cheek; her slim white hand covered his flaccid cock through his robe. "Service me, boy. I should like to ride upon you—you are nothing but a beast. An animal." Her slow drawl dripped with bitter honey. "And if you do not…" Her gaze rose to Hugh's. "The threat depends upon her mood: one day, his mother's back is stripped of its skin by a whip; the next, she is sold to a plantation upriver."
    "If he kills her, he will have a noose around his neck and his mother would still suffer—perhaps still beaten and sold. That is not justice."
    "And what is your alternative?"
    His fists clenched; his mouth hardened, and she briefly felt his psychic despair before he closed his mind to her.
    It was answer enough: there was nothing.
    "Poor Guardian. So limited in your options; so long as he will not leave, you cannot force him to go."
    Her tongue traced his lips; Hugh did not react. Not even a twitch from his limp flesh. She vanished her skirts and rammed her knee into the offending organ. His mouth opened on a pained grunt, and she swept inside.
    For an instant, he responded with gentle suction, his palms rising to cup her jaw—and then he shoved her away.
    Lilith grinned and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Let me have him. You know you would like to kill her yourself; I will convince him to do it."
    He watched her with