Demon Moon

again?”
    “Yes. I’ve asked Michael a lot of things; he says no to most of them.”
    Hugh’s laughter was deep, and she smiled at the sound of it. He hadn’t always laughed; after he’d Fallen, and before Lilith had come back into his life, it had been rare.
    And no wonder. How did someone voluntarily give up Caelum? She’d have given anything to stay…would give anything to return. “How did you bear it? When you Fell?”
    “I didn’t do so well.”
    “No, I guess not.” Except with Nani and herself, he’d been like a man of ice. “You were a freak cold bastard.”
    “ That wasn’t just Caelum,” he said softly, “but the result of many factors. I’d slain Lilith. I’d broken the Rules by trying to deny Anderson’s free will when he shot you. And—” He broke off, shook his head. “It wasn’t as simple as leaving Caelum.”
    No, Savi thought. It wasn’t.

    Colin not only arrived, but he came earlier than usual. Just after sunset, he settled himself onto a barstool in the kitchen. Unaccustomed to the subdued manner of his greeting, Savi washed and cut vegetables for the pulao in silence, hyperaware that his gaze never left her as she moved from sink to counter.
    “What is that?” His soft question after minutes of quiet startled her. “Cilantro?”
    “Yes. For the chutney.” She glanced up from the cutting board and narrowed her eyes at him. “A vampire, interested in herbs? Or are you sitting there in hopes that I’ll cut myself?”
    How could she have forgotten from one day to the next how incredible his smile was? The slightest curve of his lips, and he was transformed from beautiful to ridiculously, heartbreakingly beautiful .
    God. She kept her attention on her knife as she slaughtered a cucumber. Even if it was genuine, that smile was a means to an end: to get into her veins and beneath her psychic shields.
    Why couldn’t he have remained an ass?
    “It used to be that you prepared the meal on Saturdays,” Colin said, selecting a mango from the bowl at his elbow, holding it in his cupped palm. His thumb absently caressed the ripened skin. “You did last week, as well. If your change in occupation alters that schedule, I should very much like to know.”
    “No change,” she said. “Except for this week. Why?”
    He replaced the fruit and scented his fingers. “Castleford’s house smells best on those evenings. I enjoy it. You’ll not be here this Saturday?”
    “No. I’m meeting a guy.”
    “A potential suitor?”
    “Yes.”
    His lingering smile slowly widened. “Then I shall have to kiss you soon. What are your plans for tomorrow?”
    “Not that.” But her stomach fluttered as she rinsed off her knife. To give herself more time before returning to the counter, she selected another knife from the cutlery drawer, pulling it out from beneath one of Lilith’s pistols. There wasn’t a room in the house in which the former demon hadn’t stashed multiple weapons. “After work, I’m helping Nani in the restaurant.”
    “Will she have to approve this suitor?”
    “Yes. No.” She paused. “It’s ultimately my decision, but I won’t marry anyone she doesn’t like. She wants me to have security, and she needs to know that I won’t be alone. And in her way of thinking, ‘not alone’ means a husband, kids. Not just friends and a half-angel adopted brother.”
    “So you’ll not choose anyone who would make her uneasy.”
    “Right. There’d be no reason for me to marry if she just worried about my situation afterward.” Savi grimaced. “Okay, who am I kidding? She will anyway. But it’s a different type of worry.”
    “What of your father’s family?”
    “Dead,” she said flatly.
    His brows rose. “And good riddance to them?”
    “Yes.”
    “You look upon me without that storm on your face. Do not keep me in suspense, Savitri. I adore tales of familial loathing, most likely because I’ve not personally experienced it; but I promise I shall hate yours viciously.”
    She stopped dicing, afraid she might cut off her thumb if he made her laugh. “It’s pretty simple: my dad was an only child, his parents were from old money.” At his questioning look, she clarified, “My great-great-grandfather was a robber baron.”
    “That is not old money.”
    Savi pursed her lips before continuing, “Established money, then. My grandfather sat on boards, did the philanthropic thing. My dad was supposed to do the same; instead he went off to medical school,