"My deepest gratitude, then, most especially because of that," Gryphon said, holding Halcyon's gaze.
The Demon Prince smiled wryly down at Gryphon. "Thought of that, too, did you, lad." Halcyon sighed and looked at me mockingly. "I would have been the better choice. But he's not too poor an alternative, considering. Until we next meet, milady." Halcyon bowed and walked back into the mist. The swirling white slowly faded and disappeared.
Gryphon stood up and ran his gaze over me in close examination, taking in the expensive silk shirt, the baggy pants cinched tight at the waist with a man's leather belt, the masculine necktie wrapped around my throat. "I thought we'd lost you," Gryphon whispered, loosening the cloth about my neck and gazing at the marks on either side. He retied the cloth without comment.
"Nope. I'm hard to kill."
"That was the only hope I clung to, when I dared hope."
"How badly are Amber and Charm hurt?" I closed my eyes. "Stupid question. I saw how badly. But they'll live, right?"
Gryphon nodded and gave a fierce smile. "We are hard to kill as well."
"I'm glad. Terribly, terribly glad. Let me see your wounds."
Gryphon lifted his shirt. The deep furrows, already beginning to heal, arrowed angrily from his left hip to just below his right ribs. The stiletto wound was finally gone, I saw, only to replaced by this new injury. My palms tingled as I ran both of my hands over the deep gashes, easing his discomfort.
"Ah, that feels much better." Gryphon took my hands in his and kissed them. "The wounds will heal quickly enough on their own. I was most fortunate. It was but a glancing blow."
I'd seen up-close and personal what those claws could do and could not disagree with him.
"Let us go quickly to your place," Gryphon said, tucking me against his side as we left the alley. "Amber needs you."
I was grateful for Gryphon's lack of jealousy. Truly I was. But at the same time it bothered me. "You and Amber. You're amazingly generous with each other about me."
A hard gleam came into Gryphon's eyes. "I do not share you lightly, Mona Lisa. Only with Amber. He is my equal and shares with you his strength and helps shield you from our enemies. We belong to you." Gryphon touched the necktie, his fingers unerringly finding the spot where Halcyon had bit me. "Halcyon does not belong to you. He is not one of us. And being with him does not strengthen but endangers you."
"I asked him to find someone else to love."
"That would be most ideal," Gryphon said dryly, "and make you less of a target. Will he do so, do you think?"
I shrugged unthinkingly, jarring my wounds, above and below. "I don't know. Will there be other demons?"
"The fate of the demon who took you will surely serve as a deterrent but… few demons are powerful enough to leave Hell."
I shuddered. "Great. So that means that the ones that do come after us are going to be really strong."
The first thing I saw when I entered my apartment was Chami lying on the couch. He was ghastly white, his face paler even than the white pillow he rested upon. Upon seeing me, he tried to rise.
"Don't be foolish and try to get up," I said, pushing him back down.
"Any more foolish than attacking a demon?" Chami returned.
"That was foolish indeed. Did you know what they could do?"
Chami gave a short nod. "Still had to try. Haven't figured out a way to kill those bastards yet."
"Cut off their heads." I shivered as I remembered those awful eyes, aware and knowing in Kadeen's severed head. The memory was going to haunt my dreams for a long time to come.
"I'll try that instead of going for the heart next time. Should have told me sooner," Chami grumbled.
"I didn't know sooner."
"Is that what happened to the big guy who grabbed you?"
"Yeah."
Grim satisfaction colored Chami's blue eyes. "Good. One demon down. I wonder how many more to go?"
"Hopefully no more. What happened to Kadeen should serve as sufficient warning to the others."
He must have seen something in my eyes. "More to it than just cutting off the head, huh?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I said quietly.
Chami was instantly contrite.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Drained," Chami said, straight-faced.
"Yuck! That's a terrible joke." I slapped him on the shoulder.
Chami shrugged and grinned wickedly. "It happens to be true. But I'm much better already. We are a hardy lot."
I smiled, very thankful for that fact. "You talk like a human, more than the others," I said and grimaced as I heard myself. I was beginning to speak like them.
"Comes from watching too much television."
Chami's easy grin flitted away, leaving a quiet, wary seriousness in its place as I put my hand gently over the mangled, puffy flesh of his neck. It made me wonder: Was the assassin like me, touched so rarely by others, with care, with gentleness?
His wound had already begun to knit together. A scab had formed and the bruises were green-yellow. Two weeks of healing in several hours. Amazing.
"Your ouchie looks just like mine," I murmured.
My palm tingled over Chami's neck, easing his pain, and his eyes widened.
"Your ouchie. Is that what I smell? It feels much better now," Chami observed with wonder as I lifted my hand away.
"Good. Rest now."
"Yes, my Queen." He said it lightly, but the lightness did not touch his serious eyes. He meant those words. I was truly his Queen.
"Where's Amber?" I asked.
"In your bedroom. It was the only bed in this place. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not."
I entered my bedroom and closed the door behind me. Golden amber eyes gleamed at me from the bed where Amber lay with the sheet drawn up to the waist, leaving his chest bare.
Amber had been split open, leaving that strong, fragile heart so vulnerable—another image that would frequent my nightmares. But that miraculous healing ability we possessed had already knitted back enough viscera so that his heart no longer was exposed. However, the repair had not reached the bones quite yet. The white jagged edges lay cracked, exposed, the separate pieces of his broken ribs moving disjointedly with each slow breath that lifted his chest.
"Oh, Amber," I breathed, tears welling up. I could not even begin to imagine the pain he must be in.
"Can't lift my arms without moving my ribs," Amber whispered, his deep voice strained. "Touch me, please."
I knelt beside him, cupped that dear harsh face in my hands and brushed the hair tenderly back from his damp forehead.
"You're real," Amber breathed at my touch and closed his eyes. I kissed the warm tears from his lashes. "I apologize for failing you," he said.
I jerked back. "Don't be ridiculous."
"You were under my protection."
"He was a demon," I said, my voice edging with temper. "It was crazy of you to even try to fight him."
"It was my duty to keep you safe. I failed you," Amber insisted.
Hot tears splashed down my face. I angrily swiped them away. "Stubborn fool. Then I failed you, too. You belong to me," I proclaimed arrogantly. "It's my duty to keep you safe."
"Shhh. Don't cry."
"Then don't make me angry by saying stupid things. We're alive! We're still alive. That's all that matters."
A smile twisted Amber's lips. "Yes, milady."
"Milady," I chided at his distancing formal address, a smile wobbling on my lips. "Now you're trying to really make me mad. Oh, Amber." I brushed my lips against him, felt the stern lines of his mouth soften and move against mine. We'd never really kissed before, I realized. Just chaste pecks. I coaxed his mouth to open, delved within, tasted his sweetness for the very first time, and let the sexual heat between us slowly build.
"No," Amber said, turning his head away.
Ignoring him, I pulled the sheet down from his lap, crooning with approval at what had risen to greet me. I stroked his erection once with a tight possessive stroke.