Free Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend by Linda Wisdom

you.’” He leaned over and pulled a cigar out of a hand-carved box. He nipped the tip and then puffed on it once before the tip glowed red.
    “I gather you also don’t adhere to the no-smoking bans in public places.”
    One eyebrow lifted in amusement. “That’s a human law, not mine. As you know, humans aren’t allowed in here.”
    Interesting, he says mine and not ours . And they say the Guard is a law unto itself.
    “Your predecessor Ratchet allowed them in. He thought they made excellent playthings, even if he knew his activities with them were illegal.” Her eyes flared with anger.
    Declan’s features turned to golden stone. “He had his rules. I have mine.” He kept his gaze on Maggie. “Is that why he disappeared? Because he brought humans into the club even though he knew the Guard didn’t allow it? Why didn’t you just shut him down?”
    Maggie thought of the horrifying mess she’d found in the middle of the desert with a bloodthirsty Ratchet in the midst of it. That was the night she’d experienced the pure pleasure of dispatching him to the deepest bowels of Hades. She hadn’t regretted her actions since.
    To date, no one but her knew exactly what had happened to Ratchet. She preferred to keep it that way.
    “We didn’t have to. He did it to himself. Ratchet was the lowest of the low.” She settled back in her chair and crossed her legs, seemingly oblivious to how far her skirt inched up her thighs. Her shoe dangled from her foot. The brilliant emerald set in the broom charm on her gold ankle bracelet winked flashes of color.
    “He watered down the drinks, drugged females so they could be used in private sex shows, treated the help more as slaves than employees, and I’m sure he skimmed from the top. Plus the rumors that he murdered many creatures weren’t just idle chitchat.”
    Declan sat up, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees, his fingers linked together. “Did you kill him?”
    Her eyes didn’t waver from him. “Why would I kill him?”
    “Because he did as you said—and much more. Because the demon world won’t argue against a lawful execution done by a member of the Hellion Guard. Because he would have deserved it.” His eyes bore into hers, seemingly in search for answers.
    “Was he a friend of yours?” Maggie asked.
    Declan’s laughter was harsh to the ear. “Ratchet had no friends, only those who despised him.”
    “Yet you inherited his club.”
    “I earned this club, and that is all you need to know.” He jumped to his feet. “And as for Anna, no, she will not return to the Guard compound. No, she will not be interrogated by your elf, and no, I will not allow even you to speak to her.”
    “What if she gives us a written statement?” she suggested. “Something, or someone, greatly upset her. I need to know what sent her into such terror. Don’t you see, Declan, it could be something that will affect all of us, not just your kind. I am bound to protect everyone, even the demons.”
    His lips twitched. “The only ones to protect demons are demons.” His eyes turned even darker with lambent hints of flames in the depths. “But what of you, Margit? Who protects you? Who keeps the night terrors away?”
    “I don’t have them.” She stood up, the soft leather of her skirt sliding down her thighs. “I can go over your head and formally request that I have a chance to speak to Anna.”
    “No.” For the first time, his ironclad confidence seemed to slip. “Anna has done nothing to deserve your attention.”
    “She was picked up because she was distraught and acted as if she were about to do harm.”
    “Yet you didn’t bring her to me.”
    “Sybil told you we didn’t know she belonged to you.” She still wondered just how much the lovely demon belonged to him. He’d acted like the adoring male with Anna when he left the compound with her in his arms.
    “She doesn’t belong to anyone but herself,” he bit out the words. “But Anna is under