Mark of the Sylph (Demons of Infernum, #2)

by Rosalie Lario

  Mark

  of the

  Sylph

  DEMONS OF INFERNUM

  BOOK TWO

  by

  ROSALIE LARIO

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2011 by Rosalie Lario. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

  Entangled Publishing, LLC

  2614 South Timberline Road

  Suite 109

  Fort Collins, CO 80525

  Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

  Entangled Publishing is a subsidiary of Savvy Media Services, LLC.

  Edited by Libby Murphy

  Cover design by Heather Howland

  ebook ISBN 978-1-937044-36-7

  Print ISBN 978-1-937044-37-4

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  To my son David,

  In many ways I feel as if I was reborn on the day of your birth. You’ve changed my life so completely. Every day with you is one of joy and discovery.

  I hope I can one day inspire you as you did me.

  Chapter One

  Taeg was a man on a mission. Too bad he didn’t quite know what it was.

  For the third time this week, he stood in this old, stuffy library—the largest in New York City—a place no man in his right mind would ever be. He’d much rather be at a bar right now. Better yet, at the apartment of that bendy exotic dancer he’d met a couple nights ago.

  If anyone had asked him last week, he would’ve known exactly what he was supposed to be doing here. But the librarian at the front counter distracted the hell out of him. Not because she was smoking hot—which, admittedly, she was—but no, it was something else.

  There was something off about her.

  From a distance, he watched her smile at the man on the opposite side of her counter, her lips forming the words, “Can I help you?”

  It was far different from the way she’d treated him when she first saw him. The initial flare of recognition in her eyes had given way to revulsion and disdain. She’d treated him like gum on the bottom of her shoe. He would have understood her contempt if she had been one of the chicks he’d boned and never called back. But he was pretty damned sure he’d never slept with her.

  He would have remembered her.

  Her customer left and she bent over, searching for something under the counter. Damn, but she had a backside on her. From what he could see it was luscious, round, and plump, the perfect match for her more-than-generous breasts. But that train of thought was way too dangerous, as his rapidly growing erection reminded him. Something told him she’d be none too pleased if he walked up to her sporting a semi.

  Adjusting himself, he adopted a cheeky grin and sauntered over. “Good afternoon, sunshine.”

  She stiffened and straightened, shooting him a glare so blistering it would have made the toughest of demons cringe. Even coming from such a little slip of a thing—she couldn’t be more than a couple inches over five feet—her stare was intimidating. “Here again, Mr... ?”

  “Meyers. Taeg Meyers,” he supplied, using the last name he’d taken since making the move to this dimension six months ago. He’d bet his ass she remembered his name. She seemed to hate him too much to forget. He gave her a flirtatious wink. “Couldn’t stay away.”

  The woman gritted her teeth. “What do you want?”

  Yup, still hated him. He didn’t get it. He was a good-looking guy. Plenty of women had told him so. Why did she look at him like he had a third eyeball growing out of his forehead?

  He handed her the scrap of paper he’d scribbled his book requests on. She briefly glanced at it before raking him once again with her contemptuous glower. “More research on the Arthurian legend?”

  “What can I say? I’m a sucker for the oldies.”

  Her gaze traveled down his body and all the way back again, the cold disdain in her eyes so at odds with what he was used to getting from women when they checked him out. “You don’t seem like the type to care about ancient myths.”

  Yeah, she told him that every freaking time. Taeg rubbed his chin, scruffy from three days without shaving, and glanced down at his tattered jeans and T-shirt emblazoned with the words Need a Job... Will Work for Orgasms before giving her an innocent look. “What do you mean?”

  She opened her mouth to reply, but anything she might have said was drowned out by the familiar pulse of energy that indicated someone was approaching. Someone who wasn’t human.

  A demon.

  Taeg whirled around to see a creature sauntering toward them. He wore the guise of a scholarly old man, with white hair and glasses set askew on his large nose. Based on his genial smile and the fact he was in a library of all places, Taeg was willing to bet he was a nagora. They were harmless demons who, with their tiny bodies, green flesh, and pointy ears, resembled something of a cross between Yoda and a gremlin. The ultimate scholars, they would be at home in a place like this. Unlike him.

  The demon gave him a curious glance and nodded his head respectfully. Taeg relaxed, returning the nod before turning back to face the woman. He froze at what he saw.

  She stared at the nagora, the look of disgust on her face similar to the one she reserved for him. But wait... she wasn’t staring in the right place. She appeared to be looking at the space where the nagora’s head really would be. Not that Taeg could see it through the nagora’s glamour.

  What. The. Fuck?

  She schooled her features into an expressionless mask and forced her eyes up as the nagora stopped in front of her desk.

  “Good afternoon, miss,” the nagora said to her. “Perhaps you could assist me?”

  Her mouth tightened and her focus dropped once more before shooting back up. “What?” she snapped at the nagora, no less rudely than she’d addressed him.

  Taeg’s breath caught in his throat. No, it can’t be.

  Books forgotten, he turned and stumbled off before he could give himself away. He forced his feet to move, one in front of the other, until he’d strode out of the large set of double doors and into the hall. Leaning his back against the wall, he took a deep breath and pondered the implications of what had just happened.

  It seemed impossible. He’d never heard of anything like this before.

  Taeg straightened and glanced into the research room. The nagora still talked to the librarian. She kept her whole body tense and her attention rooted in front of her, like she was forcing herself to stand still and not look down.

  “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, ignoring the reproachful glance he received from a man walking into the research room. Impossible as it might be, it seemed pretty clear—the woman was a magic-sensitive. And not just any magic-sensitive.

  She could see through glamours.

  How rare was that? He’d heard of magic-sensitives before—humans who could sense the presence of magic or Otherworldly beings—but he’d never heard of one who could actually see through glamours.

  “Well, what do you know?” Taeg let out a long, soft laugh. It appeared today was his lucky day. The saucy little librarian with her lethal glares had just become his number-one priority. Because, wouldn’t you know... she happened to have the one thing he needed the most right now.

  The woman obviously hated him—and probably all demons, from the looks of it—but she would help him. Whether she wanted to or not.

 
; Taeg composed himself and strolled down the hallway. When he felt the urge to hum a rousing rendition of “Whistle While You Work,” he gave in to it. Not even the angry hisses and boos of his fellow library patrons would get him down today.

  He’d hunt himself down a member of the staff and learn all there possibly was to know about his bad-tempered librarian.

  Like it or not, she was about to get to know him a whole lot better.

  §

  Maya Flores anxiously counted down the minutes until closing time. When it came and went with no sign of the irritating Mr. Meyers, she let out a huge sigh. He’d left without getting his books, and she’d spent the rest of the day fearing he would return for them.

  She grabbed a stack of reference materials and sorted through them. He disgusted her, masquerading as a human, when she knew perfectly well what he really was—one of the most vile creatures in existence. A demon.

  Worse, he was one of the few demons she’d seen who appeared almost entirely human. Well, except for those fiery red eyes whose pupils swirled in a shade of plum, and that faint golden glow, as if he were an angel. Ha. Far from it.

  Before he’d walked into her research room earlier this week, she hadn’t known a demon could look like that. So carelessly masculine, with his lean, muscular physique, olive-toned skin, and dark, tousled hair. He would have had top male model potential... that was, if he weren’t made of hellfire.

  Even if no one else could tell, she knew he was a demon. He made her skin crawl. Made her want to puke. Made her ache to sever his head from his body, something she knew from experience killed all demons.

  So if he was the evil and disgusting creature she knew he was, why did seeing him make her thighs tingle and her panties wet? Why did the flash of his perfect white teeth make her heart skip a beat?

  “Why am I even thinking about him?”

  He must be an incubus. That had to be it. There was no way she could ever be attracted to a demon. No way in hell.

  Not after what she’d lived through.

  “Shit.” She slammed a book onto the counter, furious at the direction her thoughts had taken her. “I hate demons.”

  “Sorry?” a familiar voice said.

  Maya whirled around, flushing as Alice, the head librarian, walked up behind her. “Oh... um, just got some shelving to do.”

  “You’re not staying late, are you?” Alice’s eyes, round and large as an owl’s behind her tortoiseshell glasses, stared at her in frank assessment.

  “No.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I’ll be out of here soon.”

  “Mm-hm.” Alice gave her a look that said she didn’t believe it, but thankfully didn’t question her. “When are you working next?’

  “Not until Friday.”

  “Five days off, hmm?”

  “Yeah, I need to concentrate on school,” Maya replied, although really, that was the least of her concerns.

  “Have a good evening, then.” Alice reached underneath the counter for her purse. “See you on Friday.”

  “Bye.” Maya ambled about the room, taking her time shelving the books. She forced herself to wait for about half an hour after Alice left, making sure the building had emptied. Now that the library was vacant, her real work began, the reason she’d taken this part-time position to begin with.

  Tossing her backpack over one shoulder, she walked out of the research room and down the long hallway. Her thick heels made a rhythmic click on the marble floors, echoing loudly in the empty space as if pointing out how alone she was in this huge building. She passed several doors, coming to a stop at the room that contained the collection of ancient Bibles. After another paranoid peek around to confirm she was alone, she walked inside and selected one, then sat down to work.

  §

  Where was she?

  Taeg leaned against the wall of the building across from the library and checked his watch for the fifth time in an hour. Night had fallen a couple of hours ago, and the place had already cleared out.

  Earlier, after he’d left his cantankerous little magic-sensitive, he’d managed to catch another staff member alone, an older woman. It had been the perfect opportunity to use his ability to charm her into spilling everything she knew about the librarian.

  Maya. Even her name was sexy.

  Thanks to the staff member, he now knew Maya was a part-timer, as well as a graduate student, who apparently liked to stay late after work. What the woman had failed to mention was how late Maya stayed.

  What could she be doing alone in there for this long? Just thinking about it made him antsy. Too bad he couldn’t flash in there. Not with the security cameras he’d spotted throughout the ground floor. He’d learned the hard way to check for those after an unfortunate incident shortly after he’d moved to this dimension, when he’d tried to avoid the line at a strip club. Thankfully, he’d been able to use his charm on the bouncers to make them forget what they’d seen. Pretty awesome gift he’d been blessed with, if he did say so himself.

  For a second Taeg considered dissipating into air and gliding into the building to check on her. But no. Unlike flashing, his clothes didn’t travel with him when he took his air form. They would fall to the ground and, knowing this city, be picked up by the bum lounging at the street corner in less than a minute. As much as the woman disliked him now, something gave him the feeling she’d have a real problem if he appeared in front of her buck-ass naked.

  Just as he was about to glance at his watch again, a familiar figure came striding down the steps of the building.

  “Finally.” He pushed away from the wall and followed her at a safe distance. Once there weren’t so many witnesses around, he’d pull her aside and use his charm to get what he needed out of her.

  As he walked, he kept his sights glued on the round, lush curves of Maya’s sweet little ass. Couldn’t help himself. It was rounder and plumper than he’d suspected from his first brief glimpse of it. Some might even say it was too big, but if so they’d be idiots.

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with her.” And no doubt, she knew it. Though her jeans and black shirt were respectable, they were tight enough that she obviously realized the appeal of her ripe curves. And those black knee-high boots she had her jeans tucked into? Damn.

  He loved a woman with confidence, and her attire screamed confidence.

  Taeg followed her for several blocks before losing sight of her at a red light. But he still smelled her, so he followed her scent. Little Maya’s aroma was like honeysuckle and spice. Like an exotic, mouthwatering dessert. How hot was that?

  He almost bypassed the dark alley, but his nose told him to stop. Turning to face it, he inhaled, ignoring the odor of garbage and rot.

  What the hell?

  Why would she have gone into a dark alley? Did the woman have a death wish?

  With a muffled curse, he stepped into the alleyway, bypassing a sleeping drunk and several hungry-looking rats. Up ahead was a gap several feet wide. A crossroad of sorts, marking where one set of buildings ended and another began. A million spots for someone with dishonorable intentions to hide.

  Seriously, was the chick nuts? Why would she have gone down an alley? This place gave him the creeps, and he was fairly sure he could take anyone or anything that might think to hide in here.

  Taeg had taken several steps forward when a small figure whirled around the corner of the gap. Something came at his face. He had little time to jump back before a wicked blade sliced the air in front of him. It cut a shallow nick in his flesh. At least it hadn’t lodged itself deep in his larynx, as it surely would have if he hadn’t reacted quickly.

  “What the fuck?” he choked out.

  It was Maya. She whirled around and again aimed at his neck, her long hair slapping his chest and assaulting him with the muted scent of honeysuckle. He lifted his forearm, blocking the thrust with an outward jab that knocked her to the side. Before she could attack again, Taeg grabbed her wrist and slammed her against the nearest wall.

&nbs
p; “What do you think you’re doing?” he said.

  “Fuck you, demon scum,” she spat, struggling to free her hand.

  O-k-a-a-a-y... that cleared up any niggling doubt that she could see past his glamour.

  Taeg tightened his hold on her wrist until she dropped the dagger. He grabbed her other wrist and pinned it back. “Look at me.”

  Yeah, apparently she wasn’t in an accommodating mood. Because instead of listening she jerked her knee up, catching him square in the junk.

  “Ooof.” That freaking hurt.

  He let go, hands automatically lowering to protect his goods, and she shoved hard on his chest. As he staggered several feet back, she spun and delivered a stunning roundhouse kick that almost had him admiring her form, right before it caught him in the side and sent him sprawling.

  “What’s the deal, lady?”

  She grabbed the knife and flew at him faster than he would’ve expected from a human.

  Taeg shoved off the ground and sidestepped her attack, and recaptured her wrist. He yanked her arm up behind her as he maneuvered behind her back.

  “Shit,” Maya cried. The knife clanged to the ground, and he loosened his hold a fraction.

  “Stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of that.

  Pushing her to the nearest wall, Taeg turned her to face him. He kept one hand on her shoulder and the other on her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.

  “Calm down, Maya.” The familiar hum of energy in his ears told him his charm was doing its thing. “I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to ask you a few questions.”

  Her scowl softened long enough for him to assume his power had worked. He let her go and backed up a few steps. “How do you know what I am? Can you see the real me?”

  Rather than answering, she lifted a knee and slid one of her dainty hands into her boot. When she withdrew it, she clutched another dagger, a match to the one on the ground. Suddenly the reason for her boots became quite clear. The woman was a freakin’ walking arsenal.

  “Oh, shit.”

  She kicked off the wall and leapt into the air in a flying move that Jackie Chan would have envied, adjusting the grip on her dagger. Hand high in the air, she aimed for his neck. The woman was clearly determined to remove his head from the rest of his body. Taeg dropped his legs out from under him, hitting the ground hard.