Demon Moon

for Anthony Ramsdell, his throat torn out on a battlefield. For my father and brother, and my brother’s wife, whom a nosferatu set afire whilst they slept. For your friends.”
    “For the four hundred on the flight the week before mine,” she murmured.
    “Yes.”
    She held his gaze. “But also for what they had been, though it doesn’t excuse their cruelty now. Even the most intelligent creatures are foolish, sometimes.”
    “And is there room in you for forgiveness of cruelty? Or are his offenses too great?” Colin asked softly.
    She searched his eyes and didn’t know if the need she saw there was genuine, but she couldn’t halt her smile. “Are we speaking of the nosferatu?”
    His answering smile was slow and wide, and her gaze fell to his lips. “Of course, my sweet Savitri,” he said and leaned forward. His body pressed hard against hers; his mouth swept past her temple.
    Her blood pounded. Her nipples tightened as textured velvet brushed over thin cotton.
    His warmth disappeared.
    She blinked, spun around—he’d returned to his seat on the opposite side of the bar. “What was that for?”
    His brows rose, and he glanced down. A notepad and pen lay in front of him; they’d been beside the phone a moment before. “They were behind you,” he said with patently fake innocence.
    She rolled her eyes. “You intend to take messages?”
    “No. I had intended to tell you stories, but the past week has convinced me I need to find another way to win you over. My two centuries of life cannot compete with their combined three millennia; I must take advantage of their absence as best I can. Isaac Newton,” he said in disgust.
    “So what are you doing instead?” She stood on her toes in an attempt to see.
    He tilted the pad toward his chest. “Piquing your curiosity. You’ve never seen Lilith as a demon, have you?”
    Her eyes widened. “No. I saw a fuzzy picture from a traffic camera, but she was mostly in human form. Just the wings.”
    “Have you yet seen any demon?” He looked briefly over the top of the page.
    “Rael…Congressman Stafford came to SI once when I was there. But he wasn’t in a demon form.”
    Colin paused. “Castleford allowed you contact with him?”
    Was that anger in his voice? “No. I was asking Jeeves a few questions about the temperature sensors in the corridor when he came in. I just saw him; I didn’t talk to him. And I’ve seen him on TV, of course.” She sighed and placed a few dishes in the sink, ran the water to wash them. “I voted for him in the last election.”
    “He may have been the lesser of two evils, particularly as he was instrumental in funding Special Investigations,” Colin said. “Though, as it is to his advantage to support SI in Washington, it is unfortunately not to the Guardians’ advantage to slay him.”
    “And I have yet another demon to thank for a job.”
    “Has Lilith located the agent who recruited you?” He flipped the page over, and started on a new drawing.
    “We know that he left his position in Homeland Security eight months ago. And he disappeared from any records after that—no financial transactions, no address, nothing. So it’s likely he was a demon, and went Below before the Gates closed. Or rogue. Either way, he isn’t around to carry out his threat to Nani.”
    “Will you leave SI then?”
    “Probably as soon as I get married. Right now it’s just too interesting.” She bit her lip, shook the suds from her hands. He remained concentrated on his sketch. “You’re killing me.”
    Colin laughed, a note of triumph in the deep tones. He slid the notepad across the countertop. “There you are, Savi. Lilith.”
    “Oh, my—this is incredible.” He’d captured Lilith’s face and posture perfectly, standing with her sword ready, her smile wicked. The ink drawing had simple lines, but contained extraordinary detail: the smooth curving horns near her temples; fangs that rivaled a nosferatu’s in length; taloned, prehensile feet and large, batlike wings; the scrolling symbol etched between her breasts.
    “I thought she wore boots—like she does when she’s at work.” He’d only included her corset and knee-length breeches.
    “She did at times.”
    “And with red skin?”
    “Yes.”
    “She’s beautiful, but also…”
    “Frightening?”
    Savi met Colin’s gaze. “Yes. Do all of the others look like this?”
    “I don’t know; Beelzebub took a human form when he came to my house. Lilith has told