Demon Angel

chest and began stroking beneath her chin. The tendons in his forearm flexed with the movement, drawing Lilith's gaze to the taut muscle.
    "You may be in excellent shape for a human, but you're no match for the nosferatu."
    His brows drew together. "Of course not."
    "The Guardians—"
    "Michael did not know Ian," he said quietly, but she felt the force of his anger and frustration. "I don't intend to rid the world of nosferatu, only try to help those who have been targeted because of what I used to be" He breathed deeply, as if to calm himself, then added with a wry smile, "I'll leave the slaughtering to those who are more able."
    Like her. She absently rubbed the column of her neck, remembering how close her last encounter with the bloodsuckers had been. The next would probably not go any better. "Lucifer has told his demons to let the nosferatu be."
    His hand stilled on the cat's fur. "You killed two this morning."
    "I don't dare again," she said. "I've hunted enough rogues to learn I should avoid becoming one."
    "I would not ask you to take that risk."
    She could not read his expression, but she felt his withdrawal, his disappointment. He didn't attempt to convince her to help, to appeal to her humanity; in the past, he would have. His easy acceptance that she wouldn't—couldn't—destroy the nosferatu shouldn't have shamed her, but a dark ache bloomed in her chest.
    She needed to go, before it could become something painful. She'd come in through an upstairs window—she'd leave the same way.
    "Lilith."
    Pausing, she turned.
    "You didn't carry out your promise." His eyes searched hers. "I assumed that was your purpose for coming here, yet you've forgotten it."
    She gave a short laugh, though her heart tripped unsteadily beneath her breast. "Are you asking me to kiss you?"
    "I want to know why you are really here."
    Sighing, she closed her eyes. "Lucifer hasn't included me in this alliance with the nosferatu. I'm certain he has other plans for me."
    His sudden tension broke through his psychic blocks, filling the room. That some of it was tinged with worry for her nearly undid her. "What plans?"
    She swallowed past the tightness in her throat, finally looked at him. "We made a bargain in Seattle. A life for a life."
    Hugh flinched as if struck; the cat hissed and leapt from his arms. His face pale, he unclenched his hands and stated, "Mine for yours. He brought you back to life on the condition that you would take mine."
    She nodded.
    "A bargain made after I killed you." His voice was stiff. "It's fair."
    Blinking, unsure she'd heard correctly, she echoed, "It's fair?" Rage built, made her voice shake. "What you did to me was… it was right . It fit, it was the way it should have ended between us. And he hasn't called in his part of the bargain yet, but he will soon. The next time I see you, it will be with the goal of tearing you down, tearing your soul apart until you can't live with yourself and you take your own life. And it's fair ?"
    "When did you become concerned with fairness?" She had been shouting, but his soft reply rang in her ears. Amusement crinkled the corners of his eyes.
    Her mouth snapped closed. She shouldn't be. With anyone else, she wouldn't be.
    He sighed, and his smile faded. "You won't be able to break me."
    His certainty should have offended her, but it was despair she felt instead. "Do you think I cannot find the darkest part of you and—"
    "No, Lilith. I've no doubt of your skill, nor do I think you are too weak."
    Her lips pressed together, and she blinked away the sudden sting in her eyes. Now he looked for goodness in her, the humanity, when there was little—if any—left. Because she couldn't do the ritual, and transform him into a demon, he thought she would not carry this through either.
    She didn't know how she would, but she couldn't face another Punishment, or the consequences of breaking her bargain with Lucifer. She was weak. She was afraid.
    Most demons were.
    "I have to, Hugh."
    He nodded slowly, his gaze intense upon her face. He'd tucked his thumbs into his pockets, hunching his shoulders defensively.
    Standing in the middle of that near-empty room, he looked incredibly alone.
    But not lost.
    Lilith averted her eyes. "Goddamn it all," she whispered, and streaked up the stairs before she could do something foolish.
    Like follow her heart.
    Colin Ames-Beaumont raised his glass, drank deeply of the crimson liquid. He tried not to grimace at the lack of taste— pig's