Demon Moon

neither.
    “The new ’do looks great. Very Halle-Berry-coming-out-of-the-surf in Die Another Day .”
    Savi smiled slightly and looked up, meeting Fia’s gaze in the glass. “Better than platinum-blond-wig Halle?”
    The other woman grinned, her fangs protruding over her bottom lip. “Much. Only—may I?” She raised her pale hands when Savi nodded and turned around. Her fingers were quick, pulling and tugging at individual strands. “I studied at a beauty school for a little while, before meeting Paul. You’ve got great cheekbones and face shape for this; not a lot of women can pull off something this short. Why are you laughing?” Fia’s green eyes were sparkling—the easy confidence of a woman who knew the joke wasn’t about her, and wanted to share in it.
    “I think when I cut it a couple of years ago my intention was that I couldn’t pull it off,” Savi said.
    “A breakup?”
    “A rebellion.”
    Fia nodded, then pointed to the mirror. “Check it out.”
    It did look good; instead of the flat, shiny cap Savi had combed after her shower, Fia had added texture and softened the edges. Better than a hedgehog, but Nani would still think she looked too much the boy. “Thank you.”
    “Well, we can’t all shape-shift like the Guardians,” Fia said with a laugh. She glanced in the mirror and fluffed her shoulder-length brown hair, then grinned again. “You should have seen me a month ago, before Paul turned me and we came here. I was trying to do the whole black-hair-and-leather look. Then I saw Lilith and realized I didn’t have a chance of pulling it off half as well, and went back to natural.”
    “I think two thousand years as a demon gives anyone an edge.”
    “Yeah.” Fia threw a quick, speculative glance at her. “You know the Beaumont— Ames-Beaumont —vampire pretty well.”
    Savi’s smile froze in place. “A little.”
    “You were there the night at Polidori’s when he fought that thing—the wyrmwolf.”
    Savi couldn’t hide her surprise, and Fia shrugged. “I was there, too, with Paul. Hell, we were almost always there. And until we saw you, we thought Lilith was his…” She shook her head. “Anyway, there are others in the community who are thinking that he’s half demon or something because of that. He was so fast—and he can go out in the sun.”
    “I don’t know,” Savi lied.
    Fia sighed. “You don’t want to tell me.”
    “I can’t tell you.” If demons learned of Colin’s anchor to Chaos, he’d be endangered by it. Lucifer would have done anything to regain access to that realm; a rogue demon on Earth might try to do the same.
    Disappointment creased her brow, but Fia shrugged again. “It’s okay if you can’t. We were just trying to understand why he wouldn’t want to lead the vampire community; he’s the strongest figure. SI is great, but too secretive, and a lot of vampires outside are becoming distrustful of it. A little afraid, too.”
    Savi walked over to her locker, began pulling her clothes from it. “You should tell Lilith.”
    “I will; I was just hoping to get it out of you first. She intimidates me,” Fia said as she sat down on the bench.
    “All of us.”
    “So you aren’t his consort?”
    “Colin’s?” She choked on her laughter, and yanked a powder-blue tank over her head. “No.”
    “We saw what you did to him at Polidori’s, when you kissed him.” Embarrassment tinged Fia’s voice. “The same thing he did to me. No other vampire has that power.”
    “Oh.” Her face flamed. Probably better not to mention the hellhound venom; if Lilith and Hugh hadn’t explained to anyone at SI why Savi had above-human strength, then she wouldn’t. No wonder vampires were suspicious and thought SI too secretive—they were. But perhaps with good reason, given how little even Michael knew about such things. “I bit his tongue.”
    It wasn’t a lie, but Fia would assume that Colin had simply been physically aroused, and the blood pushed him over. And it was less embarrassing than admitting it had nothing to do with Savi, but rather the psychic effects of ingesting hellhound venom.
    “Oh.” Fia sighed. “I’d really hoped that someone had gotten the better of him. It’s not fair that he can look like that and have that kind of power.”
    Savi grinned and shook her head. She’d tried, but apparently the only person she’d gotten the better of had been herself.
    What would happen if she allowed him in? What price would she pay?