Demons of the Sun

by Madsen, Cindi

  Turtle looked up at her, his claws still embedded in the sleeve of her shirt, and mewed. She nudged him away. “I’ll feed you in a few minutes.”

  Jax took up the kissing again.

  Then her phone rang, vibrating against her hip.

  She ignored it.

  It beeped to tell her she had a message, then immediately rang again. You’ve got to be kidding me.

  She pulled away from Jax. “Sorry. Just let me check…” She dug her phone out of her pocket. Rose’s name flashed across the display. Persephone was tempted to ignore it, but her fill-in-grandma had helped her this morning. Not to mention Rose would come over if she got too worried, even if she was in the middle of dinner rush.

  “I better…” She held up the phone.

  “Seriously?” Jax asked, his voice husky.

  Turtle jumped between them and ran his tail across Persephone’s nose, giving an annoyed mew.

  With a groan, Jax pushed away from her.

  Persephone cleared her throat and answered the still-ringing phone. “Hey, Rose.”

  “Do you know how worried I was about you when you didn’t pick up, especially since you seemed so down this morning? You’re going to give me a stroke over here worrying about you.”

  Persephone assured Rose she was fine. She also had to swear up and down she’d be on time to school tomorrow. Turtle was making a big fuss, too, mewing and rubbing against her legs. Persephone filled his bowl—full enough he wouldn’t interrupt her and Jax again.

  By the time she wrapped up the call, Jax was starting dinner. She perched on the counter and watched him move around the kitchen. The muscles in his arms flexed as he stirred the sizzling hamburger meat. His blond waves hung down, hiding his eyes as he added spices to the skillet. No wonder she hadn’t been able to keep herself from falling for him. He was perfect.

  He glanced up and caught her staring. A huge smile spread across his face. “You think you can get away with sitting there while I do all the work?”

  “Mm-hm. Besides, we both know you’re the better cook.”

  “I’ve had to learn to work with what I can find. I’ve eaten some pretty disgusting things when I was on long hunts. Squirrels, lizards, anything I could find.” He set down the spatula and leaned against the counter, facing her. “You ever have demon meat?”

  “Ugh. You’ve eaten demon?”

  He shrugged. “Tastes like chicken.” The corners of his mouth quivered as he fought a smile. He lost the battle and laughed. “I’m teasing you. I’d never eat one, touch one, do anything but kill one. I don’t want evil like that inside me.”

  Persephone’s heart dropped. Not even a hint of demon, that’s what he was saying. Guess that ruled her out.

  Brow furrowed, he stepped closer to her. “Hey, what’s wrong? This is usually the part where you smack me, or tell me you’re going to take me out, or something like that. That’s why I like teasing you so much.”

  She didn’t feel like teasing, or smacking him, or doing anything but crying. “Guess I’m not in the teasing mood.” Because I don’t deserve you. I’ll always have that evil inside me, that demon side constantly threatening to take over, and if you knew, I’m afraid you wouldn’t want me anymore.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jax blinked the haze of sleep from his eyes.

  “I can’t believe it,” Persephone said, sitting up. “Two whole nights of good sleep.” She stretched and flashed him a smile that made his insides turn to mush. “I think you’re my good luck charm. Bigger than a dream catcher, and way more maintenance, but totally effective.”

  “Guess you better keep me then.” He sat up and kissed her shoulder. She didn’t pull away, so he tested his luck, kissing her neck, then those lips he’d never get enough of.

  “Jax.”

  “Mm-hm,” he muttered against her lips.

  “Late for…” She gave in, melting into his kiss. Her fingers twisted in his hair, and he wrapped his hands around her tiny waist, drawing her closer. She pulled back, putting a hand on his chest, and he despised those few inches that suddenly separated them. “We can’t do this right now,” she said, her voice coming out slightly breathless. “Yesterday over the phone, Rose made me swear I’d make it to school today.”

  He ran his thumb along her jaw. “We can be a little late.”

  She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, and looking at him in a way that made his heart rate skyrocket. Then she shook her head and climbed out of bed. “I’m going to go shower. I expect you to be out of my room by the time I’m out of the bathroom.”

  “I think my legs are broken.”

  “I’ll break them if you’re not out of here when I come to change.” A quick smile, and she exited the room.

  I think I’m going to need a cold shower before we go to stupid school.

  At least she hadn’t pulled away or gone back to being cold or indifferent. Not only had she kissed him back, she also looked happy again. And as long as she was happy, and he could hold her and kiss her, he could deal with whatever else the day brought him.

  Turned out he spoke too soon. He couldn’t deal with World History today, even though Persephone was by his side. He couldn’t talk to her while class was going, and kissing was definitely out of the question, which was a damn shame.

  When the boredom got to be too much, he picked up his pen. He drew two black circles, eight spindly legs, and two vicious fangs. Once his masterpiece was complete, he tapped Persephone on the shoulder and handed her the page.

  The glare she shot him might have been scary if she wasn’t so freakin’ cute. She thrust his notebook back at him, shuddered, and swiped at her shoulders, like she thought a spider might be on her right now. Meeting his eye, she ran a finger across her neck.

  Now this was much more fun than listening to Mr. Ramsey’s lecture. Jax turned the page in his notebook and scribbled a note. “I think it’s time to see Mara.”

  Getting her to look at it wasn’t easy, but after a quick glance—assumedly to make sure he wasn’t showing her any more offensive spiders—her gaze ran down the page, her lips moving as she read it to herself.

  Her eyebrows drew together, and she gave him a glare he was sure he didn’t deserve.

  Then he remembered all the flirting Mara had done with him. He scribbled an explanation. “You know I’m crazy about you. I meant see her for information.”

  He held it out to her, her hand gripped the notebook—

  “Jax and Persephone,” Mr. Ramsey’s voice boomed out. “Care to share your note with the class?”

  Several heads swiveled to stare at them.

  Jax cleared his throat. “Yeah, I was just telling Persephone that I’m crazy about her, and I’m sure she was about to tell me the same. So, if you know any other guys who are interested in her, tell them they’re out of luck.”

  If he’d been in school with all the other Warriors, they would’ve tormented him about how whipped he was. All he got here were a couple chuckles and a few dreamy-eyed stares from the girls.

  “Well, as exciting as that news is, it doesn’t belong in World History.” Mr. Ramsey pointed to the desk front and center. “Now come sit up front, so you won’t be tempted to send any more love notes during my lecture.”

  Jax supposed arguing that someday he and Persephone would be part of history would be useless. Just when class was getting interesting, too. He grabbed his books and looked at Persephone, planning on giving her his most charming grin before being banished to the other side of the room. All thoughts of a smile faded when he saw her face. She didn’t look happy. She didn’t even look present. That faraway look was in her eye—the one that came with a concerned expression.

  I hope that’s not because of me and my big mouth.

  “Mr. Nikas,” Mr. Ramsey said. “We haven’t got all day.”

  Not being able to ask her if she was okay—even if she’d lie and say she was, regardless of how she was really feeling—sent an awful heaviness through h
is chest. As he walked toward the front of the room, he wondered if she was mad at him, or if something demon-related was on her mind.

  Or worse. What if she was thinking about that other guy? She was probably thinking that Mr. Perfect never would’ve embarrassed her with a public announcement like the one Jax had made.

  A cold lump settled into his gut, and he wished he’d kept his big mouth shut. Glancing at the clock, he saw over half of the class period still remained.

  A torturous eternity.

  ***

  Jax was waiting for Persephone by the door, worry lines creasing his forehead. “Did I embarrass you?”

  She probably should’ve been embarrassed by the public declaration of his feelings, but the way he’d said it, so proud, had actually made her stomach go all tingly. Then came the reminder he only felt that way because he didn’t know the truth about her.

  Working to mask her emotions, she attempted a joke. “Cut down my dating options maybe, but embarrass, not so much.”

  Relief softened his features. “Well, to keep you from thinking about your other options, I’ll throw in some poetry next time.”

  “Now that would embarrass me.” She gave him a smile, hoping he didn’t notice how hard she had to work for it.

  He lowered his eyebrows, and she knew she’d done a horrible job hiding her sorrow. “What is it then? Something’s wrong. I could see it in class, and I can see it now.”

  How could she tell him she wanted to talk to Mara to find out where the demons were, but was terrified to fight by his side because the vile creatures would give her away? It was selfish, but she couldn’t help it. For the first time in months, she felt truly happy. Was it so awful to want to hold onto her happiness as long as possible, even if it meant not being totally honest?

  He put his hand on her neck and brushed his thumb along her jaw, just like he had this morning. “Come on, babe. You can tell me.”

  But she couldn’t. The mere thought of it sent waves of panic crashing through her. So she threw her arms around his waist, leaned her head on his chest, and listened to his pure, one-hundred-percent demon-free beating heart. Closing her eyes, she offered a quick, silent prayer to Aphrodite that when the truth came out, he wouldn’t hate her forever.

  He kissed her forehead and her heart caught.

  Oh, who am I kidding. There’s no going back from this.

  Someone gave an exaggerated throat clearing behind her. “I hate to break up the love fest and all, but my best friend has been M.I.A., and I need her for a few minutes.” Danielle grabbed Persephone’s hand and pulled her away from the comfort of Jax’s arms.

  Danielle glanced around, then leaned in. “Okay, so I’m going to need all the deets on Jax, but first I should warn you the whole ditching-class-thing didn’t go over so well with Miss Nelson. The group project was yesterday, and she was way pissed you weren’t there. Like talked to me after class about it and asked me all about how you were, even though, hello, you’ve been holding out on me.” The next sentence came out as a whisper. “She even asked about your grandma, but don’t worry, I didn’t say anything.” Danielle straightened. “Anyway, I wanted to give you a heads up so you could make up a good excuse before we go in there. And I’m guessing hooking up with the hot guy you live with isn’t going to cut it.” She stuck her fist on her hip. “Now, since my life is currently beyond boring, spill. And I want lots of details.”

  Heat filled Persephone’s cheeks as she told Danielle about her and Jax’s first kiss and how amazing it was.

  The memory of how last night had ended popped into her head, and the image of the lifeless body on the steps of the St. Louis Cathedral put an elephant-sized dent in her joy. Good thing she was used to pushing her emotions aside. “Anyway, today things are great. Really, really, I-think-I’m-losing-my-head-a-little, great.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” Danielle raised an eyebrow and fixed her with a serious glare. “But not so happy I had to find out from Charlane that you two were a thing. She said he announced it in front of the entire class last period.”

  “That was just him hamming it up when we got caught passing notes. I swear, I keep landing myself in trouble, no matter how hard I try to stay out of it.”

  As Persephone stepped into the classroom, Miss Nelson’s eyes met hers. Judging from the expression on the teacher’s face, there was a lot more trouble waiting for her.

  Once again, Persephone found herself standing in front of Miss Nelson’s desk after class. This time, though, Jax stayed by her side. Miss Nelson handed him a sheet of paper. “There’s your make-up assignment. Now please go so I can talk to Persephone alone.”

  Jax ran his hand across Persephone’s back as he walked past her. “I’ll be right outside the classroom.”

  Persephone turned her attention to Miss Nelson, wanting to hurry this up and get out of here as soon as possible. “I know I missed the project. It was an excused absence, my grandma called it in, and I plan on making it up, I swear.”

  Miss Nelson motioned to the chair across from her desk. “Have a seat.”

  Apprehension knotting her stomach, Persephone sat and crossed her legs. Miss Nelson didn’t just look mad, she looked disappointed. Which was much, much worse.

  It’s crazy that I’d rather face a disgusting demon right now than her.

  “You know I want the best for you,” Miss Nelson said. Then she was off and lecturing about how Persephone had let her group down, how she needed to be more responsible, and how she’d noticed Persephone withdrawing more and more. Apparently her grade was slipping, too. “I’m sure you think I’m being hard on you, and I am, because I know you can do better. You’re a bright girl and you can have a bright future if you’ll only apply yourself.”

  Excelling in class wouldn’t give Persephone a bright future. Not being a Sentry would have given her that. Too bad it wasn’t an option.

  Miss Nelson steepled her hands. “After giving it some thought, I decided that being proactive is a better approach than waiting until you’re too far gone.”

  “I’ll do better,” Persephone said. “I promise.”

  “Well, since your grandmother has signed you out not once, but twice in the last few weeks, I think it’s best—”

  “Twice?”

  “Last Friday you missed my class, too.”

  Oops. Forgot about that one. No wonder she thinks I’m a problem student.

  “Persephone, I want to set up a meeting with you and your grandma.”

  Persephone’s mind stumbled to set this right before it got out of control. “You can just tell me. Or write a note. I’ll make sure she gets it.”

  Miss Nelson shook her head. “That’s not going to work. I want to see her, face to face.”

  Well, so do I, but since Gran’s in Heaven and all, that’s going to be a bit tricky to arrange.

  Miss Nelson raised her eyebrows and peered down her nose at Persephone. “Do you understand?”

  Persephone nodded. She understood all right. She understood she’d landed herself in the kind of trouble she had no idea how to get herself out of.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  As she and Jax walked into the house, he put his hand on her back. “Still bummed?”

  Persephone locked the door and exhaled. “‘Bummed’ is putting it mildly. Over the phone, they can’t tell Rose isn’t Gran. But since they met Gran, they’re going to notice when a tall black woman shows up instead of a short, gray-haired, white woman.”

  “This is ridiculous. You belong to the Order of Zeus; you can kill demons. You shouldn’t have to deal with parent-teacher conferences.”

  “Guess I’ll just show Miss Nelson how good I am with a sword, and hope she’s either scared or impressed enough to not pursue the rest.” Without the sarcastic oomph she usually put into it, her attempt to lighten the mood fell flat.

  Jax put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed her tension-filled muscles. “You want me to talk to her?”

  Persephone le
aned back against him. “What can you do?”

  His lips brushed her ear when he spoke. “Don’t you remember how convincing I can be?”

  A chill ran down her spine. “Remind me,” she whispered.

  He scooped her into his arms, carried her to the couch, and tossed her onto it.

  A squeal escaped her as he jumped on top of her. His lips came down on hers, and he gave her slow, drugging kisses. His weight, his warmth, his lips—the combination made her head spin. But it also felt like too far, too fast. She put her hand on his chest and worked to catch her breath. “Hold on there, speed racer. We need to take things slow.”

  “Right. Slow. Like…” He kissed her again, lingering, slipping his tongue in to meet hers.

  She gave in, kissing him back. When his lips left hers, she shook her head, hating and loving how easy it was to get carried away with him. “I need slower for the reals,” she said, scooting out from under him. They were both dealing with a lot, and the last thing they needed was to make everything that much more complicated. “And we need to talk about what we’re going to do about the body we found last night.”

  That seemed to sober him up. “Okay. Saving the world from demons time.”

  “Lucky for us, it’s part of our job.”

  “My job.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t be difficult. Now, we’re out of food, and we need to go talk to Mara. I’m thinking we hit the Quick Stop for snacks on our way to get the 4-1-1, then we’ll be fueled up for the night of demon slaying ahead of us.”

  “Sounds ambitious,” Jax said, clearly not all the way on board with the plan.

  “Well, when it comes to saving the town from becoming overpopulated by demons, is there really such a thing as too ambitious?”

  The lopsided grin he flashed her was so cute she thought they might be able to spare a few more minutes for kissing. “You’re awesome, you know that?”

  After all day of feeling not-so-awesome, it was good to hear, even if she didn’t deserve it. “Thanks.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Now, get your cute butt off the couch. We’ve got a job to do.”