Demon Moon

it’s best? That was a terrible business, what happened to them.”
    Savi nodded. “You’re probably right.”
    With a headshake that said, Of course I am , Nani left the office in a rustle of magenta silk and clinking bangles. Savi sighed and sank into the chair her grandmother had vacated.
    As much as it’d hurt, Lilith had spoken true: had Savi never translated Hugh’s book, and printed it at a vanity press as a present to him, and then developed a card game based on the story, the gamers who’d once gathered at Auntie’s every Friday night would never have been targeted. Lucifer and the nosferatu were to blame for their deaths, but Savi was responsible for creating the circumstances that had brought DemonSlayer and its players to Lucifer’s attention. Two dead, plus one of Hugh’s fellow professors—and four more taken and frightened beyond belief before Hugh and Lilith had rescued them.
    No wonder they no longer came to play—reality had taken the fun out of it. And they still didn’t know all of the reality; Lilith had managed to twist the truth so that the nosferatu became a cult of wannabe vampires. Insane, dedicated to extreme body modification, but human—and inspired to action by Hugh’s book and DemonSlayer.
    Just as Polidori’s popularity had soared, so had DemonSlayer’s sales.
    She glanced up at Manu’s picture. That was one thing she had to offer: a hell of a lot of money. None of the victims’ families had wanted it—they’d called it tainted…cursed. And though Savi would have once laughed off such an idea, perhaps it could be cursed. She was afraid to use it; her lesson had been learned. An anonymous donation to an orphanage in India? It would probably be destroyed in an earthquake.
    “Eat something, naatin ,” Nani commanded. Savi glanced over in time to see her sweep past the door, heading for the kitchens with an order ticket in hand. “Take something out to Mr. Ames-Beaumont, as well. He cannot only want tea.”
    Colin had returned. She blinked, trying to decide how she should feel about it. Her body didn’t wait for her mind to decide; it seemed to hum in anticipation. Even with her shields up, she could no longer ignore the effect he had on her.
    Slowly, she turned back to the computer and moved the mouse pointer to close the e-mail window. Before she could click, a warm hand covered hers and a low voice purred in her ear, “What is this, naatin ?”
    Colin. His chest against her upper back, his jaw against her temple as he looked over her shoulder. His middle finger slid alongside her forefinger, and he used the mouse wheel to scroll down through the e-mail.
    “A prospective groom?”
    She closed the window with a keyboard command and fought an overwhelming urge to run. “Yes.”
    “You hold your breath. Your heart races. Did his picture cause this sudden excitement?”
    “Yes,” she lied.
    “He will not do at all, sweet Savitri. He is far too handsome.” His voice seemed to rumble through her, prickling beneath her skin.
    “I’ve always liked a pretty face.”
    He laughed softly. “Is that so?”
    His teeth scraped her throat.
    And then she was alone in the office again, her grandmother singing lightly as she carried a dish to the dining room.
    Oh god . The air left her lungs in a shuddering rush, and she gulped in more. She scooted forward in the seat, tried to use the movement to ease the sudden, unbearable ache that pulsed low and heavy. Hot and liquid.
    It didn’t work.
    “Naatin?”
    “I’m coming,” she said, and bit her lip. “I’ll be right there.” Let me dry hump this chair first .
    What had that been? Sometime between her leaving his car and now, his “let’s be friends” had apparently lost its allure. Or he grew impatient with her, his obsession for a taste outweighing his intention to wait for an invitation—to wait for her to make a choice.
    Both options were sobering…and ridiculously painful.
    She liked being with him, but it was all too quickly becoming something deeper, something complicated . His attractiveness and her arousal were simple. Their easy banter was simple. Knowing what he wanted from her made it simple. Her experience on Caelum had been simple.
    The shuddery ache she was feeling now was not; the whole had become more than the sum of its parts—and she had to keep it simple. She couldn’t let it go any further. After she met with Manu and started on that path, she couldn’t turn back.
    She didn’t want to