Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)(80)

“Sorry, my Latin stinks.”

“Dead souls—zombies.”

Yuck! And here she thought zombies were only a voodoo creation. Who knew? “So what does all this have to do with kidnapping me?”

“Salome never killed my son.”

“She raised him as her own?”

Matthias shrugged. “I haven’t any idea. Kalli said she’d tried tracking him for years, but she never found anything.”

“And Kalli’s a pretty good tracker, from what I’ve heard.”

“Salome can be pretty sneaky. She’s evaded quite a few trackers over the centuries. No one knows quite how she does it.”

“Okay, so go on.”

“Belial called me in. He knew I was planning on retiring. He told me he had an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Offers like that never boded well. “What sort of offer? Your prized horse’s head in your bed?”

“I should have known something was amiss with that sort of offer, but I knew one thing. When Belial wants something, he gets it—one way or the other.”

“What was the offer?”

“I was to kidnap you or my only remaining descendant would die.”

Serah’s heart plummeted. Her stomach heaved. She wasn’t sure she’d react any differently if she were in his shoes. “Oh.”

“He said Salome had hidden the child so the Paladin couldn’t find him. I didn’t believe him at first. After all, Salome had told me they both had died.” Matthias sucked in a ragged breath. “But he had proof. He had the babe’s swaddling cloth and a toy Josephine and I had bought shortly after we were wed to prepare for the family we wanted.”

“How horrible.”

Matthias nodded. “I took the mission, but when I saw the mark on your hand, I knew what they were planning.”

She looked down at her hand. She’d never seen the scar until after she and Lucy had opened the chest. It freaked her out. She hated it. “So when you found out I was the world’s biggest superhero, you decided to change sides?”

“I was already planning to change sides.” Matthias pushed a curl off her brow. “You are more important to the world alive. If you died, the world could have died with you. If I saved you, I would also help save the world.”

“Either that, or you’ve watched one too many episodes of Heroes.”

“Is there a need to be so flippant?”

“It’s just something I do. I think I’ve been hanging around Lucy too much.”

“Lucy can be a tad sarcastic at times, huh?”

Serah nodded. “She sure can. So you did this all to save the world, eh?”

“Yes.” He sucked in a deep breath. “But there’s a part of me that did it for myself too, Serah.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something about you that draws me to you.” Matthias’s onyx eyes sparkled. “When I kissed you, I meant it.”

Serah’s heart thudded. She didn’t have the guts to tell him she meant it too, even when he held her captive. Heck, he still held her captive. “I’m glad.”

Matthias quirked a brow. “You’re glad?”

“Yes,” Serah replied with a smile. “I like meaningful kisses.” God, she sounded so lame.

“Why do you try to hide from your true nature?”

Serah froze. Now that was a bomb she didn’t need him to drop right now. “Huh?”

“I just bared my soul to you. I think it’s only fair that you do the same.”

She gnawed her lip. Damn him for always making an excellent point. She’d been hiding all her life, it seemed. Nonni always kept her protected. She gulped.

“The dream I mentioned to Kalli?”

Matthias nodded. “I remember.”

“It’s not a dream.”

Matthias nodded. “I imagine it’s more of a nightmare. They are easily overcome.”

“It’s not a nightmare either. It’s reality.” She took a deep breath. “I was young—just turned four. I don’t remember much, but what I do remember has haunted me my entire life.”

“What happened?”

“My family was visiting Nonni. We were all playing Candy Land. I had just passed Lord Licorice’s Castle.” She clasped her hands together and wrung her fingers. “Nonni was just about to draw a card when we heard a loud hiss.

“I was about to ask what it was. Before I could, Nonni jumped up and grabbed me. She rolled into the closet and threw a blanket over us. Just then, the entire house exploded.

“My parents weren’t so fortunate. They didn’t make it to safety in time. Nonni was my only living relative, so she took me in.

“I remember hearing the fireman say it was a gas leak. Shortly after, Nonni packed up our remaining things, and we moved to Michigan.”

“It wasn’t a gas leak.”

Serah sucked in a ragged breath. “I figured as much. Especially the way Nonni packed up in the middle of the night. Later on, when I got older, I thought maybe she was hiding from the mob.” Serah snickered. “We are Italian, after all.”

“If only it were the Mafia. Your chances would have been better.”