Personal Demons by Stacia Kane Page A

needed to be on her toes. Which still hurt.
    â€œYou’re in a lot of pain?”
    â€œNo more than I expected.” She lied, it was a lot more. On waking she’d thought it wasn’t too bad, but as she moved around she realized how badly her muscles hurt, how tender her skin felt.
    â€œI might be able to help you with that.”
    â€œSensual massage?” The minute the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. She’d meant it as a joke, but it sounded like an invitation. The forced laugh made it even worse.
    Dante didn’t reply, but he stood up and came closer to her. She raised her hand. “I was kidding about the massage, okay? Bad joke, I know, but—”
    â€œHush.” He stood behind her, close enough for her to feel the warmth of his body, but not touching. She sensed his hands in the air over her head. He started speaking, muttering something under his breath.
    Energy flowed down through Megan’s head into her body, rich and thick, soothing her aching shoulders and arms, relaxing the muscles of her back. She tried to lean away, but he pulled her back, holding her in place while his power washed over her. Her fingers tingled and flexed involuntarily as the energy kept pouring down, until every part of her body felt alight.
    It only lasted for a couple of minutes at the most, but when he was done Megan felt better than she had in days. She raised her arms experimentally. No pain. “How did you do that?”
    â€œFire demons learn healing skills pretty early.” He cleared his throat. “Is that better?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œGood.” He sat back down and picked up his mug with trembling hands. Catching her look, he said, “Sometimes it takes a bit out of me. I’ll be fine. We have more important things to worry about.”
    Damn, she’d been feeling so much better too. A cool breeze swept across the patio, sending the first fallen leaves of the season skittering over the concrete. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
    â€œToo bad. You have to think about it, Megan, or you—”
    â€œLook,” she said through gritted teeth, “I get it. I’ll die. Will you stop saying it? You make me feel like you’re looking forward to it.”
    He shrugged.
    â€œThanks. Thanks a lot.”
    â€œWhat am I supposed to say? No, I’m not? I think that should be obvious. I wouldn’t be here giving you three of the best bodyguards my family—or rather, my company—has, if I wanted you to die.” He slammed his coffee cup back down on the table. “Hell, Megan, I could have killed you myself quite a few times by now if that was what I wanted to do. This isn’t a horror film. I’m not waiting for the planets to align or for you to sign your soul over to me. I’m helping you purely out of the goodness of my heart.”
    He looked sincere, but Megan didn’t believe it for a second. He definitely wanted something. She just didn’t know what.
    At the moment it seemed he wanted an apology, so she gave him one. “Sorry.”
    He nodded. “As for the brothers, I think if you give them a chance you might like them.”
    â€œDo I have a choice?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAre they armed?”
    â€œNo. They don’t need to be.”
    â€œBut you do.”
    He shrugged. “I’m not a guard demon. They are.”
    For a minute Megan considered telling him to fuck off and leave her alone. To take his demon bodyguards and go, then run away herself. It was a sweet minute, full of promise.
    But she couldn’t deny the reality of the night before. She didn’t want to trust him, but she didn’t see she had a choice. If he was offering to help her in order to put her in danger later, there wasn’t much she could do about it. If he was behind everything that had happened, he wasn’t going to stop just because she told him she didn’t