Demon Angel

almost relieved when her query at the front desk received the same response as earlier: SAC Smith was unavailable.
    Smith might have the answers she sought, but he would wonder why she asked them—and, given incentive, he had power to look deeply enough to find Hugh.
    But he wasn't the only source of information.
    She entered the stairwell and ran up one flight. The Bureau was housed on the thirteenth floor of the building; Congressman Thomas Stafford's offices on the fourteenth. The foyer welcomed her with soothing cream and aquamarine; the receptionist, in a conservative blue dress, narrowed her eyes and frowned. The perfectly coiffed redhead clutched her purse in one hand. Must be quitting time, Lilith mused. Not much daylight left.
    "Is he in?" Lilith smiled her widest smile as she strode toward the desk.
    "I'm sorry, but our offices have closed for the evening."
    Lilith kept on walking. "Too bad."
    The receptionist's mouth fell open, and her free hand fluttered in the air. "You can't go back there!"
    "Silence, twit," Lilith said pleasantly. It wasn't difficult to find his office; she simply headed toward the corner of the building with the best view of the city. The double mahogany doors were closed, but unlocked. She shoved them open, pushed them shut behind her and engaged the lock. "Hey, Tommy."
    Behind his desk, Thomas Stafford sighed and shifted from a demon to a middle-aged human. "Must you be so obnoxious with my staff, Lilith?"
    "She's new," Lilith said.
    The congressman vanished his swords and relaxed back into his chair. Handsome, tanned, with graying sandy hair and a perpetually honest expression, he was the image of the perfect West Coast politician. "Not really. She's been here almost two years." Peering at her through lowered lids, he added, "I assume you aren't here to kill me."
    "Not today," she agreed.
    The beep of the intercom was followed by the twit's urgent voice. "Should I call building security, sir?"
    Lilith could see that he considered it for a moment before responding. "No. Thank you, Lynne. Agent Milton is an old friend of mine."
    A lie, but then, not all of Belial's demons were idiots.
    Lilith laughed softly at his compliance, and dropped into the chair facing his desk. Her gaze roamed over the room, taking in the expensive furnishings, the plush green carpet and dark wood, and the United States and California flags hanging in the corner. "Your constituency has been kind to you."
    "I've been kind to them. What do you want, Lilith?"
    She leaned forward and picked up a grizzly bear paperweight from his desk. "There are nosferatu in the city—a lot of them. I want to know why."
    "Ask Lucifer or Beelzebub."
    Looking up from the ceramic animal, she pinned him with a stare, let her eyes glow crimson. "I'm asking you," she said coldly.
    He spread his hands, palms up, the consummate politician. "Ease down, halfling. They started coming in about a month ago; they travel in pairs, so every demon's attempt to hunt them has failed. Every one of my liege's demons' attempts, that is."
    Lilith frowned. "They won't kill Lucifer's?"
    "I don't think Lucifer's demons are hunting them."
    That matched what she'd been able to parse from Mondiel's cryptic outburst. "What of the Guardians?"
    It was no surprise that the demons had been killed off; they fought singly, never trusting their brethren to watch their back. But Guardians would work together to rid the city of nosferatu if they could.
    Not that they'd been very successful ridding it of demons— but demons couldn't kill humans, only tempt them to murder or suicide. Anything more would interfere with human free will. The nosferatu followed no such rules, making them an immediate danger.
    "I'm hardly privy to Guardian intelligence, halfling," he said.
    She snapped her teeth together in frustration. Really, this should be easier. Hopping onto his desk, she perched on the edge closest to him. To his credit, he didn't flinch. "This halfling ripped two bloodsuckers apart with her bare hands this morning. Want proof?" She waved the fingers of her sword hand under his nose. Despite numerous washings, the stink of the nosferatu's blood lingered on them; she'd smelled its nauseating odor all day. "Just imagine what I can do to you with this little bear here, particularly as you've been riding a desk for twenty years." She hefted the paperweight and bared her fangs with a smile. "Come on, Tommy. Give the halfling a break."
    "You're Lucifer's halfling."