Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(101)

Eyes bugging from their sockets, Squeaky looked up and gulped.

The battle had begun… Yet still no sign of Rafe.

***

Rafael growled. The longer they dawdled, the longer it would take to rescue Lucy. It no longer was a mission that spurred him into action, but pure rampant need. He wouldn’t lose Lucy. He loved her too much.

“How much longer?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Dominic slammed the Paladin manual shut and jerked his head up. With an irritated glare, he hauled the tome across the car hood. It skittered against metal and came to rest next to where Kalli sat.

“Jeez, Duvane, have a care.” With a dramatic sigh, Kalli turned over onto her stomach, opened the book, and scanned the pages.

Dominic turned to face him, his obsidian eyes stony serious. “You aren’t the only one who’s got something at stake, you know.” Jaw ticking, he lowered his gaze to the snowy ground.

“Coby,” Rafael whispered. How could he forget? Only a few times had his thoughts drifted to his sister. What would she think? He sucked in a ragged breath. He’d be damned if he’d lose two women he cared for. “I’ve abandoned her.”

“You haven’t abandoned anyone.” Eyes flickering with intensity, Dominic came to stand next to him. In a completely slow, cautious, yet strangely casual movement, his friend wrapped his arm around Rafael’s back. “The Fore-Demons gave you a mission. That mission was elsewhere. Coby understands where our duties lie.”

With a slow nod, Rafael pulled from their friendly embrace to look his friend in the face. Dominic was right. Coby knew about duty. She was always the one who put duty over desire. Her dedication to the Paladin cause was legendary.

“And, keep in mind, Coby has a good rescuer. Not that I’m bragging or anything.” Dominic swiped a hand through his neatly shorn dark blond hair, a sheepish smile curving his lips.

“I still feel guilty.”

“Coby will understand. She’s always wanted you to be happy, you know. Ever since the situation with…” Dominic let his words trail off. “She’ll love Lucy. She’s the perfect woman for you.”

So this was what it was like to wear your heart on your sleeve? Fancy that, he didn’t even know he was doing it. “I’m merely completing a mission.”

The moment the lie slipped from his lips, his heart plummeted and his blood ran cold. He fully expected a lightning bolt to shoot from the sky and smite him right where he stood. He’d deserve it, too. “I admit I’ve come to care for her.” Not a complete lie, but it still left him empty.

“Better than nothing, I suppose, right Kalli?”

Kalli scratched her head, her gaze thoughtful. “Certainly the breakthrough of the century.” She rolled over and winked at Nic, a hint of secrecy in both their glances.

Rafael never was much a fan of secrets. He crossed his arms. “Am I an object for your amusement?”

“Only when you act stubborn.” Dominic gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Don’t worry. We forgive you.”

“Stubble it.” He had to rescue Lucy. Their witty banter and secretive stares would have to wait. Deep down he knew they meant well. Right now he was too wound-up to care. He loved Lucy. He’d be damned if he let anything happen to her.

“Touchy, are you?” Kalli sighed and went back to reading the tome. The moment her eyes met the page, she jerked her head up and jumped from the car. “I got it!” she exclaimed with glee.

Rafael and Dominic turned in unison. Dominic’s gaze was alert, intense. “What have you got, Kalli?”

“Come here!” she said, waving them there with her hand. “I found a way to break the Infernati ward!”

Rafael rushed to where Kalli sat perched on the hood, her head buried deep in the tome. Leaning over her, he scanned the page she read.

“Right here,” Kalli said, her finger tracing over a line of text.

Rafael bent down to read the passage.

Only those who are true to themselves and their emotions can lift an Infernati ward.

Leave it to the Fore-Demons to incorporate self-awareness lessons into an instruction manual. “What sort of tripe is that?”

“It’s not tripe,” Dominic growled. “It’s the Paladin way. Admit your feelings.”

“Why don’t you admit yours?”

“The more the merrier,” Kalli said in a singsong voice. “But the more you two argue, the less time we have to save Lucy.”

Lucy. This was about Lucy. It always had been about her. From the moment he stepped in her shop. He was ensnared. Everything happened for a reason, or so they say. That reason was Lucy.

“It’s just that…”

Remember the last time you bared your soul? His internal naysayer boomed. Amanda, her beautiful blonde hair. Her gentle smile. The innocence that seemed to radiate from her. Her reaching to touch him. Him turning away, not wanting to shatter that innocence.

It was all a lie.

Why didn’t he see it? That spark, that energy. Nothing Amanda ever did electrified him as much as Lucy. No one, not even in his mortal days, affected him in such a way. He was thoroughly and madly in love with Lucy. He’d gladly shout it from the top of Mt. Everest if it would save her life. He’d shout it from the deep dark recesses of Hell if it brought her to him.