Free Demons Prefer Blondes by Sidney Ayers Page B

sleep.
    Lucy glanced at Serah and back to Rafe then, looked down at her pink painted toenails. “I don’t know about you guys, but I have to go to the shop and survey the damage.”
    “There’s no damage.”
    Lucy quirked a brow. “No damage? I saw the insides of the salon.”
    Rafe crossed his arms in front of him. “I sent for some help. Your shop is spotless. No one but us know about the legion of demons you let escape.”
    Wow, demons had their own crime scene cleanup unit. “How very helpful of you.”
    “It’s the least I could do.” Rafe lounged against the edge of the futon and crossed his legs. He looked so sexy standing there with that gorgeous hair flowing around his face. “After all, we can’t have our secrets revealed.”
    She shrugged and heaved a sigh. It wasn’t like she knew demons actually existed. Fancy that. Guess she wasn’t agnostic anymore. “Yeah, I suppose that would suck.” She took a breath as she tried to find the right words to say.
    In the blink of an eye, a bright flash of lightning streaked through the sky reflecting against the flecks of snow dancing in the air. Where the hell was the thunder?
    “What the hell?” Serah squeaked. Then more flashes lit the sky right over the vicinity of the shop.
    “So much for the demonic cleanup crew,” Lucy muttered, slumping onto the futon. So what if it was as comfortable as a torture rack. Any remaining heat left her body, cold radiating in its place. From the look of the lightning in the distance, her shop was screwed. Probably because she was too busy trying to get screwed.

Chapter 6
    Rafael tried to digest the entire evening, from Lamia’s inopportune attack to the sight of Lucy standing over the chest, the golden aura surrounding her to… No, he wouldn’t remember that, no matter how much he might have enjoyed it. What happened was impossible. A demon was supposed to be immune to the succubus’s seduction. Yet in a matter of a few minutes she had him caving. Then again, the minute he spotted her that afternoon in the salon, he knew he’d been ensnared. And the minx didn’t even know what she’d done.
    Maybe he was losing his demonic powers. Bloody hell, he was being demoted. His third strike. It didn’t surprise him one bit if the Fore-Demons diminished him to impish duties.
    Glancing over at Lucia, heat swelled within him. She sat on the hard settee she’d called a futon, her head in her hands. Her friend sat next to her, wrapping her arm around Lucy’s shoulder. Suddenly he felt like an intruder. With long strides, he walked to the window and took in the sight. Lightning zinged across the sky, relentless, as the loosed Infernati warriors searched for the chest. If only she unleashed some Paladin Demons too. Not that he wanted a war on Earth, but his options were dwindling.
    An incessant noise echoed through the room, coming from his leather jacket. Blasted contraption, but Nic insisted he bring it along. He hated modern technology, but it was the most convenient way to keep in touch on Earth. Glancing over at Lucy and her friend, who both stared with bemusement, he fumbled inside his pocket and pulled out the mobile phone. He flipped it up and put it to his ear. “Speak.”
    “The salon is clean, milord.” The familiar feminine voice rankled his nerves. Leave it to the Fore-Demons to send her. “I just love cleaning up your messes.”
    “Stubble it.”
    Kalli chuckled, a deep vibration that echoed in his ear. “Please, Rafe. That expression died out at least two hundred years ago.”
    Rafael contemplated throwing the phone into the wall. Struggling to maintain his anger, he gripped the phone tightly. “Whatever. Is there danger? The succubus wants to get a few things.”
    “The succubus?” he heard Lucy say, her voice indignant. “My name’s Lucy, you jerk.”
    Rafael craned his head and narrowed his eyes into a scowl, yet on the inside he cringed. But he needed to stay as distant as possible, lest he fall