The Demon's Song (19 page)

“She wasn’t yours. We have an entire realm of wretched souls to punish if we feel
like it, but you had to have something forbidden,” Phenex spat. “Even Lucifer wouldn’t—”

Belial burst out laughing. “Phenex. You’re so naive. It’s sort of charming and disgusting
all at once. You think he didn’t use her? We all did. Celestine served the pleasure
of the Council more than once. But she was
mine
.” His eyes flashed, lip curling. “She was so difficult to trap, so worthy a prize.
Beautiful. Sweet.
Pure
. None of my possessions could hold a candle to her. And you
let her go
. You
sent her fucking home!
Even before I fell, I wanted her, and now I’ll never have her again. Never!” he shrieked.
“You’ll pay for it. You and your whore!”

Phenex’s blood thundered in his ears until he could no longer hear Belial. There was
only the sight of his lips moving to silent invective while to his right, Sofia had
begun to cough up blood. Her eyes lifted and caught his…and he remembered that terrible
crush of emotion as though it was the first time.

Kill me. I beg you.

That was what it meant, to be possessed by a demon. To have no say in your fate. To
simply be owned. He was no Belial…but not all the lessons he had learned in Hell had
been as lost as he wished.

Loving Sofia would mean opening the cage door all over again. And this time, as with
Celestine, he knew deep in his bones what he had to do. But with Sofia, the realization
came with a burst of bittersweet joy—he hadn’t forgotten how to love.
He loved her.

He loved her. Even more than he was afraid of losing her, of someday having to let
go.

The truth of it filled him, and so many things that had been locked inside himself
broke open. A rush of light consumed him, and for a single moment that seemed to hang,
suspended, all the universe was the song he had been created singing. Phenex’s wings
snapped out to his sides, and there was a brief, searing pain that he had to close
his eyes against. And within, Phenex could feel something new, something shimmering
and sweet and endless that pulsed with the love he had found. A gift, even now, for
a creature who would never again be quite an angel…but who had proven himself worthy
of something more.

From the depths of Phenex sang something new. His soul.

With it came a power unlike any he’d ever known.

Phenex opened his eyes to find Belial staring at him, his face contorted with fury.

“No!” he shrieked.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. Belial drew his sword from
between his own wings, but Phenex was already ahead of him, his own fire sword raking
a line of black blood across Belial’s chest. The demon screamed in pain and anger,
and their swords connected on the next pass, again and again. Always, Phenex tried
to keep an eye on Sofia, knowing time here was short. Her struggles seemed to be getting
weaker.

The next time Belial’s sword passed by in a rush of air, Phenex sliced out with his
hand, thinking of Sofia’s clever move, and caught the demon full force in the throat.
Belial’s eyes widened, and he gagged. It left enough opening for Phenex to make one
more slash of the fire sword, neatly detaching Belial’s head from his body. Even before
they hit the floor, both head and body were in flames.

The demon’s final scream echoed, filling the room before expanding through the walls,
a warning that Phenex knew the Council members and their hordes would hear.

Traitor
.

He had to get out of here.

The cage was unlocked, at least, and Phenex gathered Sofia quickly into his arms.
At first, he thought he had managed to catch her before the worst of it.

“It’s over. It’s done, Sofia. We can go home. I’m here. Can you hear me, baby? It’s
going to be okay.”

But it wasn’t. His stomach rolled when her head fell back. Only the whites of Sofia’s
eyes were visible, and the blood was running down her cheeks like tears. Her body
was limp. She was nearly out of time.

“No!” Phenex cried in the terrible silence. “No, no, no, hang on…you have to hang
on.”

He was back in the courtyard in a few quick flashes of movement, back to the departure
point Belial had set up. Phenex muttered the words he remembered to open the temporary
rift, and even as shouts and screams began to echo through the skies, warning of his
presence, he was springing up, rocketing into blackness that was suffocating. Somewhere
beyond were the remains of Amphora, a battle that might still rage on…

And he found he cared for nothing but the life that was ebbing away right here in
his arms.

As the darkness lightened, he did something he had sworn he would never again do.
He used an ability that ought to have vanished from disuse, but that was still as
keen as the edge of his blade. With all the light that still burned inside him, he
cried out for help.

Please. Save her. Help me save her. There has to be a way.

And in the silence that followed, he heard Uriel’s voice.

There is. But there’s always a price.

Phenex understood without having to be told. Whatever happened, whatever he did, he
would have to be willing to accept that he could lose Sofia. What would she want?
What could she bear? He had so little time left.

“Tell me,” he whispered as the world around him lightened.

And Uriel responded with a choice.

Chapter Twenty-Two

She woke to the sound of pounding surf and keening gulls.

Sofia’s eyes snapped open in the dark. She shouldn’t be here. She’d already done this
part, and it had ended badly. Phenex had walked out, and then Belial—

She lost her train of thought as she realized that there was a wing draped over her.
A very large, very white wing. And someone was fitted against her back, his nose buried
in her hair. But it couldn’t be Phenex. This was some kind of weird delusion. Maybe
she was in a coma, or—

“Oh my God. I died.” She whispered the words, but the chuckle that rumbled through
her from behind said that she hadn’t been that quiet.

“I hope not. I love everything about you, Sofia, but I might have to draw the line
at spooning your corpse.”

“Phenex?” Her eyes widened, and she’d rolled over to wrap herself around him before
she even managed to register what he’d said. She showered his face with kisses, laughing
and crying, unable to articulate a single coherent thought. All she knew was that
he was with her, and that he’d finally told her he loved her. Right this second, those
two things, plus the fact that she was alive, were all that mattered.

“How did you find me? How did you get us back here?” she asked. “The place he took
me…it hurt so much.”

“I know,” Phenex said. Lying there at her side, shadow and light playing over his
face, Phenex was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. He brushed a lock of hair
out of her face.

“Hell was never made for humans still in their bodies. Belial took you there so I
could watch you die. Years ago, I freed an angel he was torturing from the cage he
put you in. Celestine. She begged me to kill her, to end it, the night I found her.
Instead, I let her go. They couldn’t prove anything, but Belial knew it was me.” He
smiled, just a lazy lift of his lips that was sweet and sensual all at once. “We’ll
just say he was extremely pissed. And he held a grudge.” The smile faded. “You were
the perfect opportunity to make me hurt, and he took it. I’m so sorry, Sofia.”

Sofia stroked a hand down his cheek, still trying to come to terms with the fact that
they were both here. That she was breathing.

She paused in mid-stroke, finally registering his apology. She was alive, but there
was no way she should have been. Something had happened. Her eyes widened, and she
looked to the window, suddenly certain that she would see a sky just past sunset,
bruised and darkened. That Phenex had saved her life the only way he knew how.

She would never be able to hold it against him, Sofia knew. But she would never be
the same. So much lost…

But when Sofia rose up on her elbows to get a better look, she saw that while it was
sunset, the sun hadn’t finished its descent, only just beginning to touch the sea.
The sky was full of glorious shades of pink and red and violet. It wasn’t yet night.

She didn’t understand. But she knew she was going to treasure the memory of this sky
more than any she’d ever seen.

“How?” Sofia asked, sinking back down to look at Phenex. “How is this possible? I
was dying. I could feel it.”

His expression was inscrutable. He still looked unsure of her…what had he managed
to do?

“Some things happened when I was fighting to get you back.”

“Things?” Sofia murmured, and then remembered that his wing was still draped over
her, soft and warm. He’d just been waiting for her to notice it. Really notice it.
She ran a hand over the feathers, the purest white she’d ever seen, and then looked
into his fathomless blue eyes with wonder.

“Yes, I guess some things happened. That would be one way of putting it,” she said.

Slowly, haltingly, he tried to explain what had happened to him. “I’m an idiot,” he
said. “It took me up until the moment I realized I was losing you to figure out what
I should have already known. I love you.”

Hearing him say it was sweeter than she could have imagined. Sofia breathed in, catching
the wonderful scent of him, and splayed her fingers over the cloudlike softness of
his wing. This was real. She had to keep reminding herself. She’d never expected to
get exactly what she wanted…but here he was.

Phenex stroked his hand over her hair. “When I figured it out, the second I accepted
the truth, I felt this weird…” He trailed off, looked pensive for a moment, and then
shook his head. “I don’t even know what to call it. Like Meresin had thrown some of
his lightning at me, I guess, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. There was
a shock that went all the way through me. My wings, and my heart. And…my soul.”

“Your soul,” Sofia repeated softly. He nodded, and in that moment she saw the same
boyish wonder and joy he’d shown her when playing his music. He was beautiful, she
thought. And now he seemed so full of light, so full of…more.

Phenex was nodding. “I have a soul. Maybe it’s a gift because I finally found myself.
Maybe it was always there inside, waiting. I don’t know…and to be honest, I don’t
really care. I finally feel whole. You gave me that. I’ll spend an eternity trying
to repay you.”

It was one of the few times in her life that Sofia could truly say she’d had her breath
taken away. All she could do was touch his chest, his face, his hair. When Phenex
pressed his lips to hers in a sweet, lingering kiss, she sank into it. He tasted of
sea and sunlight.

“You don’t have to repay me for anything,” Sofia said when he lifted his head.

Phenex grinned. “I want to. Don’t spoil my fun. I have a lot of ideas, Sofia.”

All the pain and anger seemed to have vanished from him. To be the catalyst for something
like that was so powerful and humbling, she didn’t know what to say. Instead, Sofia
slid her arms around him and held Phenex as tightly as she could.

“Aren’t you going to call me an idiot and tell me you love me again?” His voice rumbled
pleasantly against her ear. Sofia peeked up at him.

“I do love you. And today, you are definitely not an idiot. I’ll call you that some
other day, I promise. But not today. You saved my life, Phenex.” It occurred to her
all at once that hers hadn’t been the only life at stake. “Oh, God. The others, the
city, Dru and Ember, and Justin and Gadreel…”

“All fine,” Phenex interrupted her. “Amphora is a smoking ruin, but my brothers are
used to that kind of thing. We did lose some good vamps. It wasn’t in vain, though.
Terra Noctem is safe. And close by.” His eyes glittered with amusement. “Really, really
close by. Go figure. It’ll be good for them to have to change things up after catering
to the jet set in DC. And the fake tanning companies are going to be rolling in cash.”

Sofia laughed, relieved that Phenex’s strange circle of friends had stayed intact,
yet wondering about the details. That conversation could wait, though.

“I still don’t understand how I’m here. Alive.”

His gaze softened. “I was a little desperate. So…I asked for help.”

“And not from the vampires, I guess,” Sofia said. Phenex shook his head.

“No. Angelic help. Strange that I even remembered how to ask, but there was Uriel.
I think he’d just been waiting.” He blew out a breath, looking strangely embarrassed.
“None of the others knows all of what happened after I released Celestine from Hell.
I was offered redemption, my place back. I’d known for a long time that I didn’t belong
in the underworld. Not really. Risking my life out of compassion just confirmed it
to the white wings who’d been watching me. Which I told Uriel was creepy, but there
it is.”

“You didn’t take it, though.”

“No. At that point, I figured I’d stick with the black wings. I decided I didn’t really
belong anywhere, and I like swearing, video games…sex.” His grin was wicked as he
slid a hand down to give her butt a squeeze. “So I stayed demon. And I stayed here.”

“You’re not going to hear me complaining. I knew you were different,” Sofia said,
snuggling closer and resting her cheek against Phenex’s chest, loving the steady beat
of his heart. “I know you’ve had ages of hurt. But you’re not as damaged as the others.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they would have done just the same if they’d found a broken angel
in a cage. We all have our own paths. Mine led to you.”

Sofia relaxed into his embrace, closing her eyes and enjoying the love she felt in
every brush of his hand over her hair, her skin. But then her eyes flew open as she
realized that he still hadn’t really answered her question.

She pulled back, propped herself up on one shoulder, and frowned down at Phenex. She
didn’t know what to make of his obvious apprehension. She was no vampire, that much
was certain. But there was something off. She didn’t just feel good. She felt amazing.
It shouldn’t have been possible.

“How did you save me?” she asked again.

He hesitated, appearing to consider his words carefully before he said them. “I had
a choice. Let you go, or save you by binding you…to me.”

Sofia tilted her head, confused. “Binding?”

“I didn’t even know it was possible before Uriel told me. I’d never even heard of
something like that. I would have asked you,” Phenex rushed out, and she realized
that he was genuinely worried she would be upset about this. “But you were almost
gone, and I thought…you get to keep every part of your humanity, to stay in the light,
to enjoy all the people and things you wanted to keep.”

“But,” Sofia prodded gently, beginning to understand, “there’s always a catch.”

“Your body was beyond healing by normal means. You’d lost a lot of blood, and what
was left was contaminated just from being in Hell. The only way to keep you here was
to give you vampire blood, which I knew you would hate…or, as it turns out, to give
you mine.”

It was the last thing she’d expected to hear, and yet somehow, it all made sense.

“I have angel blood, your blood, in my veins now?” she asked. “I’m not exactly human
anymore, am I?”

“No,” Phenex said. “Not exactly. Our lives are tied together now. While I live, so
do you. If I die…”

“So do I,” Sofia finished. “And I would imagine it works the other way around as well?”

Phenex nodded. “Bound together. I am honored to be able to tie my life to yours, Sofia.
But I understand that you may not feel the same way. It’s sudden, and you had no say.
If this isn’t what you want, maybe Uriel knows a way to change what I had to do, I
don’t know. I can’t promise anything. But I didn’t do it because I wanted to lock
you away in Terra Noctem and keep you all to myself. I did it because I couldn’t stand
the thought of living without you. If that was the wrong thing, I hope you can forgive
me. All I really want is for you to be happy.” A smile flickered across his somber
expression. “Well, okay, that’s basically bull. I would rather have you happy with
me, but if happy is all I can get, so be it.”

She let it sink in and found that as strange as this all might be, she couldn’t feel
anything but an almost dizzying happiness. Sofia laughed softly, threading her fingers
through the silken softness of Phenex’s hair. He had given her a piece of himself
to keep her alive, and he expected nothing in return. Which made her all the more
certain that he was the one man she could give everything.

“You worry too much. My
I’m in love with you
is still valid. I don’t want anyone but you, Phenex. You drive me crazy, and I can’t
imagine life without you.”

His smile when he realized she wasn’t going anywhere was brilliant.

“Then both of us are going to be happy with the deal I agreed to in return for Uriel’s
help.”

Sofia’s eyebrows lifted. “He wouldn’t help you out of the goodness of his heart? He’s
an archangel!”

“He’s a hard-ass, and he isn’t above bargaining when it’s important. This was more
important to him than I realized. I’m going to be composing again. They never replaced
me, and I guess the Angelic Choirs are in dire need of new material. They want me
to do what I was made for again. I can’t even tell you how that feels, except to say
that pretty damn good doesn’t even start to cover it.” He pressed kisses to her nose,
her mouth, while Sofia absorbed this. Phenex would once again be the Angel of Song.
Mostly. Apart from the non-angelic things he did, which were legion.

“How does that work, exactly?” she asked.

“I can live on Earth, work from home, all that good stuff,” Phenex said, rubbing his
nose against hers and looking happier than she’d ever seen him. Even his skin seemed
to shimmer with it. “No more vampire cities, Sofia. We can visit, and I’ll honor my
commitment to help Terra Noctem and my brothers if I’m needed, but you were right.
I need the light. I need to build a life with you, one we both want. I’m tired of
slaying things,” he confessed. “I just want my music, maybe a house on the beach,
if you’re game…and most of all, you.”

It was everything she’d wanted, and it still managed to be more wonderful than she
could have imagined.

“Amy’s going to be sad when she finds out I haven’t been having an affair with a famous
rock star, but my family’s going to love you.”

“They’d better. I’m not going anywhere, and I already let them know we’re coming for
dinner this Sunday. And what do you mean I’m not a famous rock star? I’m a legend!”

“Uh-huh.” Sofia laughed. “A legend in your own mind.”

Phenex rolled her beneath him, his eyes drinking her in.

“I’m never going to be perfect, Sofia. But I’ll always be yours. I swear it.”

“I love you, Phenex. I got a good guy and a bad boy all rolled up into one. I’m sure
it’ll take me at least a few lifetimes to figure you out.” She rose up to kiss him
gently, and found his lips to be as wonderfully sinful as they ever were. “Thank you.
For saving me.”

“Sofia,” Phenex said, “you did all the saving. Trust me. I meant it when I said I
could never repay you. But I plan to spend forever trying.”

“Hmm,” Sofia said with a wicked smile, “there’s no time like the present.”