Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)(72)

“No. I have feelings for you, Serah.”

“Yeah, right. If that was the case, you would’ve told me sooner.” She spun around, and narrowed her gaze. “You make me sick.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, Serah.” Matthias’s onyx gaze pleaded. “I wanted to ease your suffering. Sometimes forgetting is the only way.”

“You can ease my suffering by getting the hell out of my sight.”

She spun around and squeezed her eyes shut, the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. What the hell? Anger she could understand. Sadness, though? Screw him. She balled her fists. Too bad she already had. Things were totally and thoroughly f*cked up.

“I never meant—”

Shaking her head, she gave him a dismissive wave. “Just shut up and get out.”

He blew out an aggravated breath of air. “As you wish.”

The door swung open and without further word, he left.

At the click of the door shutting, Serah buried her head in her hands. If she was going to be sad, she might as well go down with a waterfall.

She crumpled at the foot of the bed and buried her head in the sheets.





Chapter 28


Matthias didn’t blame her one bit. It was all on him—his fault. But it was for the best. Serah would be better off without him and his twisted set of morals.

He leaned against the door. It was for the best. They’d never have anything anyway. It was for Serah’s own good. No matter how hard he tried to reaffirm his decision, it still cut straight to his heart.

An assassin with a conscience? He snorted. A dangerous mix.

“You must be Matthias.”

The haunting voice carried across the kitchen and tickled his ears. Not a human voice. Not Infernati either, since no stench lingered.

Matthias spun around.

She smiled as she lounged against the buffet. A mop of hair of myriad colors fell around her face and down her shoulders. A crimson lace corset left little to the imagination about her womanly assets. There was no mistaking the demon side of her as she stood there clad in a leather skirt and fishnets. Tattoos of ivy and roses vined their way across her chest and down her arms. A leather thong was tied around her neck, and whatever was tied to the end of it nestled snugly in her cleavage. She blew a bubble and smacked her blood-red lips.

She fluttered her heavily mascaraed eyelashes. “Finished gawking already?

“Kalli, I presume?”

“Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.” She bent down and picked up his shirt from the floor. “Had a little accident, did we?”

“Serah dropped the pot.”

“That’s not like Serah, even when she’s having an episode.” She shook out the shirt and tossed it to Matthias. “There, all fixed.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, throwing the now-dry shirt on.

“Lucy told me to stop by and check on you two.”

“Serah is in her sleeping quarters.”

Kalli arched a brow. “She’s not the one for midday naps either. What the hell is going on?”

Kalli yanked at the leather strap, freeing the pendant from its confines. She placed her arms on her waist.

The pendant! Matthias’s blood turned cold. He’d never forget it. He’d bought it from a peddler in the village where he lived. He was courting Josephine at the time. She had fallen in love with the pendant instantly. He only had a few coins in his pocket, but the peddler could see how much they fancied each other and gave them a deal.

It was simple, yet elegant. A ring of pewter engraved with ivy vines. He’d recognize it anywhere. And now this woman wore it.

Was she the one who had killed Josephine and their unborn child? He clenched his fists. He never knew which side had done it, but signs always pointed toward the Paladins. They were angry at him for not aligning himself with them—at least that’s what Balthazar had said when he first took him under his wing.

“Is something the matter?”

Matthias lunged at Kalli and grabbed the necklace. “Where did you get this?”

“It’s just a plain ol’ pendant. Hardly worth anything.”

It might not be worth much to her, but it meant the world to him and he wanted it back. “If it’s not worth anything, why wear it?”

Kalli plucked the pendant from his hands and looked down at the pendant. She traced the carvings with a gentle fingertip. “I like simple things, Ambrose. Is that a crime?”

“Could have fooled me.”

“A medieval pendant goes perfectly with my Goth attire.”

“Still, I’d like to know where you obtained it.”

“If I said Sotheby’s, would that help ease your tension?”

This wasn’t the time for sarcasm, not when his mission only held on by a single thread. The moment Serah notified Rafael and Lucy of his involvement in her kidnapping, he would certainly be sent back to limbo and lose any chance to redeem himself with the Paladin.

“Someone I knew had a pendant like that.”

“And someone I knew gave me this one.”

“Who?”

Kalli reached up and traced a fingertip across the ivy designs. Taking a deep breath, she took a seat at the stool next to the buffet. “Well, this wasn’t how I expected this to go.”