Demons Like It Hot (Demons Unleashed #2)(93)

“Ghosted?”

“I had a couple phantoms keep tabs on you.” Rafe shrugged. “We couldn’t be too cautious.”

“Sally never said anything about ghosts or phantoms either. This is getting even wackier.” Daniel rubbed his fingertips together. “Then again, she left out a lot more serious things.” He shook his head, no hiding his disgust with himself there.

Poor guy, thought Serah. Something told her he’d get over it and move on with his life. She’d help him in any way she could. She owed it to him.

“Phantoms and demons don’t usually revolve in the same circles.” Rafe smirked. “But I helped Nigel and Rupert out of a jam, and they were repaying me the favor.”

“Oh. Wow.”

“I can have them stand down, if you like.”

Daniel shook his head. “No, just make sure they keep their distance. If I could sense them, and if Salome is as powerful as you all say, then she may sense them too.”

“Will do.” Rafe nudged Matthias. “We need to see the Council now. The sooner we get these bottles blessed, the sooner Serah can get the tiramisu made.”

Matthias nodded. His gaze caught hers. “Will everything be okay for about an hour?”

An hour? It takes that long to get a couple bottles of silver blessed? What can we do in the meantime. Swap cookie recipes? “It’ll have to be. Kalli’s here to take over your bodyguard duties.”

Kalli squared her shoulders and raised her chin. “I’ve done my fair share of guarding every so often. I once guarded an Egyptian queen.”

“Cleopatra?”

Kalli snorted. “Heck no. Much too proud for my tastes.”

“Oh so you had nothing to do with the asp?”

Kalli nodded. “She was a proud woman. She would rather die than be humiliated by the Romans.”

“So it wasn’t about love?”

Kalli leaned in. “It hardly ever is.”

Matthias slanted his eyes at Kalli, his jaw taut. “Enough.”

“Love shouldn’t be tragic,” Kalli added, ignoring Matthias.

“But it is.” Matthias stiffened and turned to Rafe. “We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get going.”

Serah wished she knew how to help him. He needed more than a quick romp like they’d had earlier. He needed someone to console him. Hug him. Show him love still existed. Because Rafe’s and Lucy’s PDA obviously wasn’t enough.

Speaking of Rafe and Lucy, they gave each other a quick kiss and Lucy straightened his leather jacket. “Think of me as that cold portal sucks you in.”

“I always do. It’s what keeps me warm.”

Serah pretended to gag, coughing and sputtering. “Spare us the display already.”

“You’ll know what it’s like soon enough,” Lucy said with a friendly swat to her arm.

Not if she continued down this dark path of obsession—obsession for Matthias. She wanted to be the one to hold him, the one who he confided in. The one she wanted to confide in.

They had a lot more in common than she thought. They had both lost their families. They both felt guilty about it. She couldn’t ignore that they had some kind of connection. Not that it was a healthy one, but it was still there.

“I think I’m fine right where I am.” But was she? She’d have to be for now.

“Okay,” Lucy said with a frown. “But you should be happy too.”

“I am happy. See?” Serah gave her best attempt at a toothy grin. “But we need to concentrate on other things now.”

Matthias nodded. “Serah’s right. We need to go—now.”

“Yes,” Rafe said, giving Lucy another quick peck on her cheek. “We can continue this later.”

Lucy smiled. “Okay, babe.”

Matthias took her hand in his, tingles zinging from just that touch. His dark gaze burned her, in a totally good way. “I’ll be back soon, Serah. I promise.”

“Okay.” She withdrew her hand from his, electricity zipping across their skin. What was it about his touch?

You like it, dumbass.

Without further words, he turned around and strode to the office. Rafe followed right on his heels. The door blew shut behind them.

Yes. She did like it. Way too much. Who was she kidding. She loved it. She loved his hands when they stroked and roamed all over her body. She loved his lips against hers. She loved all the naughty things they had done in bed. Yep, she was really fooling herself. She loved him.

Well, that made things complicated, didn’t it?

“Shit. I’m getting tired,” Serah said, with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes. She’d had a long day and just wanted to curl up and go to bed. Perhaps she could battle the brisk early-winter air by snuggling in some cozy fleece blankets in front of her warm fireplace. That would keep her toasty. Alas, they still needed to make their poison tiramisu.

“What you need is some extra strong coffee to jolt your senses.” Lucy smiled. “I can at least brew a strong pot. I’m not completely helpless.”

“Be my guest.” Serah extended her arm to the coffee pot in the far corner. “As long as it’s a machine doing things for you, it’s all good.”

Lucy shrugged, grabbed the carafe from the machine, and filled it up with water. “What kind of beans do you have?”