Page 80 of The Music Demon

“Concert,” Lyric corrected.

“Aye. Your first concert. I’ll always be your biggest fan.”

Doo grinned. “Thank you, ma’am. Holdin’ you to it.”

After they watched Doo climb the steps to the front door of the old house, Lyric turned to Shivaun. “Surprise time?” Her smile said yes. To the driver, he said, “Take us around the corner and let us out.”

The look on the driver’s face said he thought that was an odd request, but he turned the corner and came to a stop.

The demons got out and walked to a spot where they could duck off the street and disappear without being seen. But they didn’t disappear. Lyric turned to Shivaun with a look of anticipation that was irresistible.

“So?”

“So?” she repeated.

“Tell me now. What’s my surprise?” She glanced around. “Stop stalling.”

“Take me someplace beautiful and I’ll tell you.”

He pulled back. “Someplace beautiful. That’s as relative as relative can get. You take me someplace beautiful.”

“No. I mean someplace like a, em, fantasy.”

“Do you have a picture in your mind?”

An image immediately shot across the screen of Shivaun’s mind. She’d been waiting to be interviewed for a position as a Black Swan demon hunter, although she had no idea at the time that was why she was there. As she sat in an Edinburgh pub with not much to do, she noticed a magazine left behind one table over.

Conde Naste.

She pulled it toward her, began leafing through, and stopped on a gorgeous, glossy color photo of a scene out of a dream. It may have said something about the Mediterranean. She wasn’t sure.

What she did recall was a white open-air building with columns that led down stone steps to the dark azure waters of a sea inlet. A small boat with a dragon head mast and a blue and white striped sail was tied to a Venetian-style post. Large black pots sat on either side of the steps trailing bougainvillea with huge red blooms. The temple-style building faced a black mountain that rose directly out of the water and seemed almost close enough to reach out and touch.

Shivaun had never been to a place with weather like a Greek island, but somehow she knew the air felt perfect. Not too cold. Not too hot. Not too windy. Not too calm. Just right.

Lyric had thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the vibe she emitted while engaged in her fantasy and the look on her face as she pictured it.

“Take me there,” he said softly.

She shook her head a little. “What?”

“Take me there.”

She wouldn’t insult him by pretending not to know what he meant. “I do no’ know how. ‘Tis someplace I once saw in a magazine.”

“It’s not just in a magazine anymore. Now it’s a real place. It took form in your mind and you gave it life.”

With shallow laughter, she said, “’Tis a romantic notion. That such a thing might be possible. But I can no’ make pictures real.”

Lyric put his hands on either side of her face. “Put your hands around my wrists.” Shivaun’s hands wouldn’t begin to encircle the demon’s wrist, but she made the effort. “Now close your eyes. See this wonderful place and imagine that we are there together.”

“I feel silly,” she protested.

He chuckled. “Trust me.”

“Never,” she whispered.

Then she closed her eyes. As her image jumped to life the demon kissed her lips, first gently, then more insistent until their tongues began to dance in the most sensual sharing of pleasure.

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