Free Demons of the Sun by Cindi Madsen Page B

lot.”
    “But how do you even know the spell works?”
    Because having demon blood running through me makes it hard to find my own house. The entire structure flickered in and out of view, so she had to really concentrate to see through the projection. Even then, she’d tripped up the steps a few times. So she’d gotten used to counting how many paces it took to get to them, then to get to the door. Once inside, her vision cleared.
    She couldn’t tell him any of that, though. “I’ve seen it work. My business is guarding the dagger, and trust me, I take it very seriously. But I also take the fact that demons are out there killing innocent people seriously. It’s our job to protect them, and I think we should start going out there and slaying as many of the bastards as we can.”
    “Slaying demons and protecting people is my job. But right now, keeping you safe is more important.”
    She’d known it was going to be a hard sell, but she couldn’t let it go. The more she thought about it, the more determined she became. “Protecting me protects the rest of the humans, right? That’s the basic theory?”
    He narrowed his gaze, a suspicious glint in his eye. “Riiight.”
    “But if we let them all die, we’re just as bad as the demons. I’m strong, and last night, yeah I was scared, but once I started fighting, I felt strong. I felt in control of my life for the first time.”
    Not only that, she needed to fight them. Fighting them meant she wasn’t on their side—wasn’t one of them. She grabbed his hand. “You know I can help. You saw what I could do, unarmed and everything.”
    Jax sighed. “And it was impressive, it really was, but I can’t take you out there and put you in danger every night. It’s counterintuitive to my main objective, and it’s not happening.” He straightened, apparently thinking this discussion was over.
    Persephone stood, so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck so much to talk to him. “I’ll tell you why I’m right about this. Together we can take out more demons, which means I’m safer in the first place, and because I’m out there fighting with you, you’ll be more protected, which means I’ve still got my protector at the end of the night.”
    She locked eyes with him. “You really think we can live like this for years, you never letting me breathe, me hiding out, all while the demon problem is getting worse and worse? And wouldn’t you feel better knowing I’ve had the training I need to defend myself, no matter what comes at me?”
    He opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyebrows drew together, and she could tell she’d gotten to him.
    Before he could over think it, she nudged a little more. “Wouldn’t fighting demons together be easier than fighting each other all day every day?”
    A smile played on the corners of his mouth. “I don’t know. Fighting with you is kind of fun sometimes. Plus, you’re cuter than most demons.”
    She smacked his arm. “Most?!”
    He laughed and rubbed his arm. “All, okay, all.” He shook his head. “You win. We’ll do some training. And we’re going to have to do a lot of it before we can go out and start kicking some demon ass.”
    Excitement bubbled up in her and she threw her arms around him. “You’ll see, we’re going to be awesome together.”
    He put his hand on the side of her face and ran his thumb across her cheek bone. “Yeah, I think we are.”
    Warmth radiated from his touch, and her pulse picked up speed. A warning went off in her head, and she pulled back. “I’ll go get ready.”
    She turned and walked toward her bedroom, hoping that sparring would help take care of the annoying tug she felt in her heart every time she looked into those blue eyes.
    ***
    As usual, a slightly sweaty, plasticky smell filled the air of the martial arts studio. Jax had saved the owner from a couple of muggers one night—a welcome change from fighting demons—and the guy had said to come by whenever.
    Jax looked