Demon Forged

bargain with Vlad—after I pissed Lucifer off, and was punished for it. Yet instead of slaying me, you told Hugh where to find me.”
    Yes. Almost six hundred years before, Irena had come across Lilith impaled on a giant pole, weakened and helpless; knowing that Hugh—then a Guardian—had formed an attachment to the demon, she had left Lilith’s fate in his hands.
    Irena stopped pacing. “ That was a mistake.”
    “You think so?” Lilith’s smile wasn’t friendly. “I think, between then and now, you learned what a demon is.”
    Yes, she had. Not just tempters, not just beings who collected souls to strengthen Lucifer’s armies—but beings who reveled in tearing the souls apart. Lilith wasn’t much different. Given a chance, she’d dig up everything Irena kept buried.
    Irena turned to leave. “I will do as you’ve asked, hellspawn.”
    “Good. We’ll meet here tomorrow, seven A.M.” Lilith added as she reached the door, “He said there was no one he trusted more at his back.”
    Irena’s hand froze on the knob. “Olek?”
    “Yes. You are a risk. But sending Alejandro to investigate Rael alone is a bigger one, and SI can’t afford to lose him.”
    Lose him? Ridiculous. Between his Gift and his skill with the sword, Alejandro would survive any fight with a demon.
    “He’s reckless,” Lilith added.
    Irena laughed. Lilith saw much, but she was wrong about that. No one was more careful than Olek. He did not make a move without weighing every consequence.
    “I will do this, but you are mistaken. We will not lose him.”
    So she told herself, but as she pulled Lilith’s office door closed and saw him standing at the end of the hallway, dread grabbed her by the throat.
    Of course it was possible. It was for any of them. An ambush, a misjudgment of speed . . .
    A stone turning beneath a foot.
    Her breath sharpened. Alejandro squared his stance as she approached him, and her eyes narrowed. Did she look as if she were eager for a fight?
    She was. Oh, how she was. “You’ve become a foolish ox.”
    “Forgive me.” He gave a short bow, and paused at the end of it. “You will, of course, tell me why.”
    Even bowing, he still looked down at her. “You placed yourself behind me at the courthouse. It was an idiot’s decision. Don’t do it again.”
    He straightened abruptly, as if she’d struck him. She had. She’d slapped at his pride, his warrior’s pride. “You are the stronger of us—”
    “Yes,” Irena hissed. “I do not need protection from a bullet.”
    “ The stronger of us ,” Alejandro repeated, circling her with his silent, deadly stride—forcing her to move in a wider circle to prevent him from maneuvering around behind her. “And we did not yet know the scale of the threat. One bullet might have been followed by fifty from an automatic weapon.”
    Which would cause much more damage, but—“I would recover more quickly than you.”
    She put her back to the wall and planted her feet. She would not let him push her off balance.
    He stopped in front of her. A muscle in his jaw ticked. “Yet you would have to recover. If I place myself behind you and take that injury, you—the stronger of us—can better face a threat if it becomes larger than we anticipate.”
    “The stronger exist to protect the weaker, you self-important mule.”
    “Guardians protect weaker vampires and humans, yes.” His eyes darkened. Her breath stilled. Powerful emotions made her eyes glow; in his, the color deepened. “But in battle, the weaker Guardian must sometimes be used to hold a threat at bay, until the stronger Guardian is positioned where she is most effective.”
    Damn him. She’d taught him that. But it only applied when the threat was dire. Not when they faced a bullet.
    “That battle and that time was not today.”
    “I determined that it was, Irena, and I will again.” He pushed closer, leaning in. “And I vow that I will cover your body with mine whenever I see fit.”
    The vow echoed in her ears. His smoky scent surrounded her. Her blood heated. No—her blood was already boiling. She’d been so focused on him, but now her focus shifted to the tightness of her skin. The cool, flat press of the wall against her shoulder blades. The molten heat at her core.
    Oh, gods, she was wet. He could push at her, slide inside without any resistance. She’d take him all. Make him hers.
    “No.” He straightened. His eyes shuttered. “I will not fight. I do not like the man I become