Damned if He Does by Marcella Burnard

Author:Marcella Burnard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marcella Burnard
Published: 2016-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Archimedes’s rusty purr rumbled Fiona out of slumber. She glanced at the clock. “Wow. Only five minutes early today. What has gotten into you this past week?”

She stretched, clicked off her alarm, and rolled out of bed. Realization hit her halfway through the act of standing up. The cat’s early mornings coincided with the presence of a certain demon in her life. She cast a surreptitious glance around the room.

Empty.

Or so it appeared.

Archimedes still purred, his golden gaze locked on the chair in the corner.

Fiona propped her hands on her scantily clad hips and faced the empty-to-her ivory brocade armchair. “I’m guessing the cat isn’t staring at invisible aliens. How much of the feline habit of staring at nothing is attributable to demons? Or are we still talking pact with Hell stuff here?”

A ghost of a masculine chuckle sounded.

Even though she’d half expected it, Fiona started. She stumbled back a step, hit the bed and landed on her butt on the mattress.

A wave of sulfur-scented power rolled over her.

Darsorin materialized in her chair. “I like watching you wake.”

“Oh.” An invisible demon hovered in her bedroom while she slept. That ought to be weird, not endearing.

When he said nothing further, she studied him. Dark circles and shadows in the hollows of his cheeks drew her to her feet, frowning. “Are you okay?”

He shrugged as if to dislodge an annoying weight from his shoulders. “Not going to make this morning’s run.”

Worry propelled her across the room. She set a hand against his forehead, then pulled away before she could register body heat. Her nerves bubbled a laugh out of her. “I suppose by definition demons run a temperature.”

He caught her hand in his. “I’m not sick. Just tired.”

She closed her teeth on her bottom lip to hold back a ‘burning the demon at both ends’ quip.

Darsorin lifted an eyebrow at her and Fiona suspected he’d caught a glimpse of the unspoken words. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. What do you need to get better, Dar?”

“I’ve run through a few too many demonic perks. I’ll have to spend a few hours in Hell.”

She rocked back on her heels.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured. “I’ll stay here long enough to get between Archimedes and the exterminators you really don’t need.”

Fiona gasped. “That’s today? Damn.”

“I’ll take care of him. It’s my fault, anyway.”

“No need,” she said. “I can lock him in the bathroom.”

“Not if you’re going to have to leave him there all day,” he said. “They’re supposed to be here first thing.”

“Probably while I’m out running.”

“If they are, then I’ll be gone by the time you get back. Can I swing by after you’re off work?”

“Yes. Of course. Anytime.” She had to swallow a sudden, sour taste on her tongue. What had she thought? That being damned afforded him nothing but advantages? She cast about for something more to say and finally settled on a weak, “What would you like to do tonight?”

“Me?”

“We’ve been going to my haunts,” she said. “What about yours?” Assuming he had any that didn’t involve eternal combustion.

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