Demon Moon

shouldn’t have invited a stranger up, no matter how lonely she was, nor how handsome and strong and helpful he’d seemed.
    She’d not learn a lesson from it, however; she’d forget him by the morning. Or, at best, remember him as a very pleasant—and very beautiful—dream. Perhaps she’d question the haphazard placement of the groceries in the refrigerator, but she’d never think a vampire had fed from her in that kitchen.
    No, she’d likely blame her job, or her exhaustion, or tell herself she was being fanciful.
    Small wonder they needed the Guardians’ protection.
    He pulled her blankets over her; she sighed and rocked her hips against the mattress. He contemplated waking her, but he’d indulged that lust with the first woman.
    And it was not bloodlust that had driven him to the third.
    His phone rang again as he walked through the living room. A mirror hung over the sofa. He’d closed his eyes and refused to listen when he’d passed it before, loaded down like a footman. Now he stared into it. Perhaps the screams would drown out Lilith’s voice when he answered her call. She wouldn’t hear them, though she was no stranger to their like.
    “Yes, Agent Milton?”
    “I’m not going to kill you after all. I need a favor.”
    “Do you?”
    In the mirror, a human body was devoured, torn apart by a flying beast. The human’s face remained, frozen into the glacial sky, shrieking.
    Chaos.
    “Damage control. I’m flying to New York with Michael; Hugh’s there with Selah, and she’s ready to jump in, but we need her back as soon as possible. That means you have to handle…Colin, what the fuck is wrong with you? You should have asked me to call you beautiful by now.”
    “I was feeding,” he said, his voice flat.
    “And her declarations were enough? That’s revolting. Listen, I need you to take Savi out, let her be seen by as many people as possible. Preferably a cop or two, as well. Auntie, you can leave at home with Sir Pup.”
    He looked away from the mirror, massaged his eyelids with thumb and forefinger. “She killed it?”
    “Garroted it with a wire from her laptop, then pumped it full of venom,” Lilith said, and laughed. Colin thought he detected a note of pride beneath it. “It’s not dead, though, just paralyzed. Michael teleported it to the holding cell at SI. Savi’s in the bathroom with Auntie; Hugh says Savi will wait until there’s no other choice before she lowers the symbols’ protection. But we’re going to have to deal with the mess, spin a story—there must be a lot of witnesses, and the body disappeared mid-flight. The plane lands in half an hour. Selah will bring them to our house then, so be there. We should arrive in New York just after that; we’re over Nebraska or some godforsaken place now.”
    He’d have Savi to himself for the entirety of the evening? A slow grin slipped over his mouth; Colin walked out of the flat, careful to turn the lock on the doorknob. He couldn’t engage the dead bolt from outside, but it wouldn’t have kept something like him out anyway. “You’re flying there with Michael; is he carrying you? How primitive, Agent Milton.”
    “Yeah, and I’m fucking freezing. A garrote!” She burst into laughter again.
    A masculine voice rumbled in the background. Lilith must have covered the mouthpiece with her hand; Colin could only hear the sharp tones of her reply. He stepped outside. The clouds had thinned into pale ribbons, and the moon hung round and heavy above the skyline. A block away, his Bentley sat by the curb; it’d take most of the half hour to drive across the city to Castleford’s house in Merced Manor. Much faster to run, but not half as stylish.
    “Michael says to tell you that he found something of yours by the fountain. What the hell does that mean?”
    He almost stumbled over the curb. Why hadn’t the Guardian killed him? Castleford would have. “It means that Savitri is going to have a very, very good time,” he finally managed.
    Ridiculous, to think of this as a second chance with Savi. A second chance for what? He’d only spoken at any length with her twice: fifteen minutes in her grandmother’s restaurant, and a few hours in Caelum. She was a bright young woman, certainly, but one he’d vowed not to pursue. His temporary obsession and their mutual enthrallment in Caelum was hardly reason to risk his friendship with Castleford and Lilith.
    The motor roared to life, but its growl was nothing to Lilith’s.