The Demon's Song by Kendra Leigh Castle

he’d been
     made for, and the only thing that saved him from being truly alone.
    Getting a second chance at existence wasn’t all it was cracked up to be so far, Phenex
     thought. But at least he was still breathing, even if he wasn’t making a lot of progress
     otherwise. He looked at the moon. He wanted .
    “Phenex?”
    Her voice penetrated his musical cocoon. Startled and trying not to show it, he picked
     his head up and looked around. When had it gotten so dark out? How long had he even
     been up here? The look on Sofia’s face, wary and concerned, said it had been longer
     than he’d intended. Some bodyguard he was.
    Sofia stood at the top of the stairwell that led up from inside. She wore no jacket,
     and her arms were wrapped around herself as a feeble defense against the early February
     air. The cold didn’t bother him—he hadn’t even noticed it before now. But Sofia shivered
     as he watched. Just another reminder of how very human she was. How very deliciously,
     desirably human.
    Sofia hesitated for the briefest instant, then started toward him. He had to give
     her credit. Most people wouldn’t have come looking for him. They would instead have
     wished him gone and probably locked the door for good measure. But then, Sofia was
     no coward.
    “Aren’t you cold up here?”
    Phenex shook his head. “Barely feel it. I needed some air.”
    “Ah.” She nodded as she slowly approached him, finally coming to a stop only a couple
     feet away from where he sat in the beat-up chair. She looked skyward, where the lights
     of the city made it difficult to see any but the brightest stars, and then out across
     the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded them. Finally, she sighed heavily, and
     the steam curled upward into the night air.
    “We need to talk,” she said.
    He raised his eyebrows and said nothing. He hadn’t expected her to be so direct. Probably
     he should have.
    “About this morning,” she added.
    “What part?”
    Sofia’s mouth tightened ever so slightly. “You know what part.”
    “Maybe.” He plucked out a melody absently, watching Sofia try to figure out how to
     deal with him. “There were a number of parts to this morning.”
    “Only one part involved you almost biting me.” She paused, and then her voice dropped.
     “Among other things.”
    Phenex stopped and tilted his head at her.
    “Almost doesn’t count, last I checked.”
    “I’m not used to guys with fangs. ‘Almost’ was too close for me.” Sofia took a deep
     breath and seemed to be gathering herself.
    Phenex waited, curious, and after a minute, she got around to saying what she’d come
     up here for.
    “Look, I’m not sure what you’re…I mean…” She raised her eyes to the sky and gave her
     foot a frustrated little stomp before pulling it together, a steely glint in her eye
     when she met his gaze again. “It’s not a good idea.”
    Phenex pretended to consider that. “You’re right,” he said, then smirked at her. “It’s
     an excellent idea.”
    She didn’t crack even a hint of a smile in return. “Okay, let me put it another way.
     It’s not a good idea for me . I’ve had two vampires try to kill me in the last week. I don’t think that hooking
     up with a fallen angel is going to do a lot for either my sanity or my health. We
     need to keep this platonic.”
    Phenex watched her, noting the stubborn little tilt of her chin as his fingers skipped
     quickly over the strings. The emotions that surfaced puzzled him for a moment until
     he could sort them through, considering how unfamiliar they were. Finally, he understood—he
     was actually offended. That was a switch. Then again, being turned down was a new
     one, too.
    “You think I’ll hurt you.” A statement, not a question. And she had a point. He hurt
     a lot of people. But he thought he’d made it pretty clear that he was making an exception
     for her.
    Sofia frowned and held herself more tightly as a cold breeze ruffled her