Page 2 of Claimed
There is a slight pause and a familiar oval face fills the screen. “Caine, why do you always ask that when I call?” Lilah Marks’ voice is a sultry contralto from the speaker and her big blue eyes are bright. “And why don’t you ever answer when Ruin calls?”
“Did he call?” I ask, canting my voice into playful uncertainty. “Must have missed it.”
“Caine,” she says, laughing.
Her laughter is still the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.
My little bird.
I grip the balcony rail as the early morning breeze tugs at my robe. “Are you, though? Okay, I mean?”
“I’m fine,” she tells me with a shrug. The motion forces the cascade of her dark waves over her shoulder like a sheet of chocolate. She cranes her head, trying to peer past me. “Why do you stay in town? There are so many rooms here for you to use.”
Because it keeps me too close to you.
I keep the words tight behind my smirk. “I fear I would never get a moments peace, and neither would any of you.”
“Too many nefarious deeds?” she jokes.
“A demon never kisses and tells, little bird.” The words are like ash, but it’s the mask I wear. The one they are all so quick to believe.
“Fine, but the guys still need you to come in.”
“Today is my day off,” I remind her. The first one I have taken in the last few months. “Are we talking life and death importance or merely everyone misses my keen wit and unparalleled beauty?”
Another small laugh and my lips tug into a brief smile of my own. She always laughs for me.
Always.
“There’s a new case and they need your help.”
“Moi?” I ask. What could possibly require my aid? “Can you give me a hint?” I bat my lashes at her.
“I only know one thing,” she says, leaning closer to the screen. My eyes lock on her full lips before I can stop myself. “It involves you going undercover.”
“Why under the covers is where I do my best work,” I tease with a waggle of my brows.
She rolls her eyes, but no flush stains her cheeks. There is no heat in her gaze. No moment of curiosity.
The familiar jab of pain hits me in the stomach hard. But I no longer forget to breathe.
The pain is almost normal now. Every time I see her, every time I hear her voice, it lingers where no one else has ever filled.
Forcing my expression to remain light, playful, I smile through the ache in my chest. “Give me twenty, little bird, and I’ll be there. And tell your one and only to keep his pants on. I’m coming.”
Her smile is the last thing I see as I end the call.
I stand at the rail for several long minutes, not seeing the view. The sunrise.
None of it means anything anymore.
Hells, I’m not sure if it ever did.
With a brief glance over my shoulder, I realize the human girl is gone, her possessions along with her.
And it’s all for the best.
I’m never at my best where Lilah is concerned.
