Demon Moon by Meljean Brook Page B

lunatic.
    â€œSavi,” Hugh said from behind her. “There’s something else.”
    She turned, then barely ducked the short-bladed knife streaking toward her. It sailed over her shoulder, and Lilith snatched it out of the air. Hugh lowered his hand.
    â€œJesus!” Her heart pounding, she looked between them. Her legs trembled. “What the fuck was that for? What if you’d hit me?”
    â€œHugh’d be tending to your shoulder right now,” Lilith said. “But he isn’t. Accelerated reflexes, enhanced speed. Not near that of a vampire, though. How strong are you?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Savi replied stiffly. “I’ve been hoping it will go away, like the fever did.”
    â€œUntil it does, you’ll be training with me,” Hugh said. His throat worked, then he cursed and slammed the door on his way through.
    It was unlike Hugh to swear. He probably thought he’d failed her.
    He hadn’t.
    â€œI can’t,” Savi said.
    Lilith’s gaze was not devoid of sympathy, but she shook her head. “You don’t have a choice now.”
    Savi’s teeth clenched. “How did you know? Did Michael tell you?”
    â€œMichael? No, Hugh could see it within a minute of your coming home from the hospital. I don’t know why you tried to hide it from us.”
    â€œI have to pretend I’m normal.”
    Lilith tapped her finger on the matrimonial classifieds. “We’ll teach you how to pretend , but you won’t be. Can you live with that? Can he?”
    â€œYes. And he doesn’t have to know.”
    The dark sound of Lilith’s laughter filled the small room. “I’m the last person to tell you not to lie. But can you be happy lying?”
    Savi frowned. “It’s marriage. It isn’t only about happiness; security is important, too. Happiness is for later. Were your marriages any different?”
    Still laughing, Lilith shook her head. “No. That’s why I’m living in sin now,” she said as she left.
    Savi rubbed her forehead again and closed the door. She could be happy; she found it quite easily. Would the man she married be?
    Probably not.

    Colin straightened his cuffs for the third time. A piece of lint disturbed the perfect line of his trouser leg, and he brushed it off.
    Castleford’s house rose up in front of him, a boxy, contemporary bit of architecture. Colin appreciated the clean lines of it, but preferred his Victorian. He’d parked in the driveway; his gaze rose to the lighted windows above the garage. Nothing to see from this angle, but he could hear Savi moving around inside.
    He pulled at his collar and sighed. If he stayed in his car much longer, Hugh and Lilith might think he was nervous.
    A door slammed, and Savi ran down the private stair from her flat. Was she so eager to meet him again? His body hummed with the pleasure of it.
    But he didn’t open the door; he needed to wait…and see.
    She wore jeans, sneakers, and a thick cream sweater. She’d wound an azure scarf around her slim, beautiful neck.
    Sir Pup squeezed through the pet door at the front of the house and shifted to a larger size. He bounded toward her, then tagged along beside her legs as she rounded the front of the Bentley and tapped on Colin’s window.
    He lowered the glass and inhaled.
    Nothing. Her unique scent—wonderful, intoxicating in its way, but not the delicious, dangerous perfume.
    The devastating sense of loss nearly undid him. His relief kept him upright.
    She leaned down. The window framed her brightly smiling face like a portrait, and his breath caught. “I just wanted to say thanks for that night.”
    He cleaved his tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Of course, Savi. It was my pleasure.”
    Her smile never wavered. “Yeah. About that…”
    â€œThink nothing of it,” he said carelessly, and flashed his fangs in a rakish grin.