Demon Angel

while keeping the advantage of the longer sword on the leading side. And in close quarters, better for a disemboweling slice, or a strike to the heart.
    "Where did you learn that?"
    His hand stilled, and he realized he'd been absently spinning the sword. He slid it back into its sheath with a dismissive snap.
    "It's nothing."
    "You were twirling it. Really quickly. Did you just happen to run across Ninja 101 at Berkeley?"
    Normally he enjoyed her sarcasm. Normally he would have insisted he didn't twirl anything. And though she didn't deserve it, he couldn't keep the ice from his voice as he repeated, "It's nothing."
    Her face hardened. "Fine."
    He replaced the sword with more force than necessary. They'd be useless against the nosferatu anyway. Difficult to disembowel a creature that moved more quickly than a human could see.
    "By the way, Nani's pissed at you." From her tone, he could hear the too . Her felt her gaze burning into the rigid line of his back, but he didn't turn. She added in Hindi, " 'Ungrateful, worthless boy! More interested in his books and his papers. If he insists on making such a long day at work, he should have become a doctor as I instructed him!' "
    He had to chuckle at her perfect imitation of her grandmother, and some of his unreasonable coldness faded. Turning, he leaned against the shelves and crossed his arms over his chest. She never remained angry for long, at anyone or anything; indeed, she looked at him now with a mixture of amusement and concern.
    "You're lucky she then launched into another tirade about my dropping out of college, and I didn't get a chance to tell her the truth."
    "Which is?" he asked softly.
    "You don't sleep. You get up within hours of going to bed and have since I moved in six months ago. I hear you."
    He stiffened. "You hear… what?"
    "Your damn gym is right beneath my office. Three o'clock: clank, clank, clank . Five o'clock, I hear you leave to run." She snorted. "Imagine Nani's reaction if I told her it wasn't just work, but that you spent five hours a day deliberately driving yourself to exhaustion."
    He bit back a sigh of relief, and the moment's fear that he'd been crying out during the nightmares. "I sleep."
    She looked pointedly at the clock on the VCR. "I'm up because much of the development team is half a world away. You have classes to teach in four hours; unlike me, you don't make up for it during the day. So what's your excuse? Chronic insomnia?"
    "I'm fine." It was almost a growl.
    "You're not." Her mouth firmed, and she began counting off his flaws on her fingers. "You're withdrawn. Moody. Cold. Granted, not as cold as when—"
    She broke off, and his stomach sank. "Savi—"
    "In the hospital, and the two years after I got out, you remember? Except with Nani and me, you were the coldest bastard I'd ever seen. And while Nani and I loved you—adored the boy who'd come from nowhere to help us out in that awful time, who spoke Hindi and every other language anyone spoke—everyone else thought you were an emotionless psychopath." She raised her hand when he would have interrupted. "I was only nine, but I remember . And I don't want you to be that again."
    His eyes stung. Dipping his head, he rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to respond.
    She saved him. "And now that I know you have ninja skills, I definitely don't want you to be a psychopath."
    He laughed, but found he couldn't assuage her fears. The restlessness within him did not abate, and he would not make promises he couldn't keep.
    Instead, he approached her, touched his lips to her forehead. "I'll try."
    She blinked quickly, gave a watery smile. "Do, or do not. There is no—"
    "God," he groaned before she could finish. "No more. I'll try."
    "But you're going running now." She drew back to look at him. "Aren't you?"
    "I have to." He clenched his teeth, wishing he could lie more easily to her. A glance at the window and the darkness outside made him pause. "But I'll wait until dawn. And try to sleep."
----

CHAPTER 9
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    For two thousand years, the night had been her ally.
    Men's fears ran shallow in the dark, made their souls easier to manipulate with whispers and dreams. Lilith had learned to use its inky face to mask her own; deception had become her sword, her shield.
    But there were others who'd known the darkness longer than she had, and the night betrayed her in favor of an older acquaintance: the nosferatu.
    The night, Lilith decided, was a bitch. A