The Demon's Song

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.”

Phenex grinned, his fangs glittering.

And he started forever with a kiss.


About the Author


Kendra Leigh Castle is the author of Covet’s exciting new series, Hearts of the Fallen, along with numerous other paranormal romances, including the Dark Dynasties series, the MacInnes Werewolves trilogy, and the RITA-award finalist Renegade Angel. After growing up in snowy northern New York, she married a Navy pilot and has spent the past fifteen years moving everywhere from the desert to the Deep South and points in between. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband, three kids, and menagerie of pets, and can be found (usually curled up with yet another cup of coffee, possibly wearing ugly pajama pants) at www.kendraleighcastle.com, as well as on Facebook (www.facebook.com/kendraleighcastle), Twitter (@KendraLCastle), and Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/kendralcastle).