Page 39 of The Phoenix

“So what?” He took a slug of brew, wiping a drip from his unshaved chin.

He was in worse shape than she imagined. “Are you with Arisen Dawn?”

“No business of yours, girlie.”

“The leader is the warlock Dolph. You hate mages after what one did to you.”

He paused, his hand dropping to scratch his balls. “Wouldn’t want you fucking one, but this guy’s okay. ‘Sides, I never see him. He’s gonna get us our due.”

“Really? What are you owed?”

He jerked to his feet, beer spewing from his bottle, flowing down his fist. “Respect.” He smacked his prosthetic leg.

“You haven’t earned it.” Galena drew the short spear from the sheath on her back, pointing the tip toward her father, the enemy.

“You ain’t got the guts. Now if ya’d been a male as I wanted, you’d have the nads for the job.”

Galena bounced the weapon, balancing it, positioning it. But she couldn’t. And it had nothing to do with her sac-less anatomy. The asshole was her father. He wasn’t worth losing her soul.

She re-sheathed the blade. “If I ever see you near a portal heading for Earth, I’ll run you through. As of now, you’re dead to me.”

The asshole berserker fell onto the sofa, cackling. “Yeah. A son would join me.”

Slamming the screen door behind her, Galena took a big gulp of fresh air. Her semi-annual check on her father was done. There would never be another. He was the enemy.

****

While the demons repaired the window broken by the berserker gunman who had ziplined to her roof after he took out the plate glass two days ago, Harley chatted with her dad on her cellphone. “I already told you, I’m all right. No more incidents, and my case is nearly concluded.”

Her father repeated his questions about security arrangements along with the quality of her bodyguard.

“Brak is very efficient. He stays out of my way. I ignore his presence. Of course, it would have been better if he hadn’t killed the shooter. We might have gotten information from him the police would have found helpful.”

She ogled Brak’s rear while he shot the breeze with the workers. Her bodyguard must weigh in at nearly three hundred pounds of pure muscle, no fat on the warrior’s body. His face. Ruggedly masculine with sultry sapphire eyes fringed by long lashes, his blue-black hair slicked back and curling at his collar. His nose was off as though he’d walked into too many fists. With deep olive skin tone along with his dark features, he could pass for an Italian mobster’s hitman. But he was an extremely handsome thug who likely had his pick of women. When he returned to his chair, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, muscled thighs encased in leather pants, his thick forearms showing beneath the rolled-up sleeves of a black silk shirt.

Brak’s head snapped around.

Oops. Caught.

Harley bit her lower lip when his tongue flicked out to moisten his gorgeous lips.

“Did you get the results of your blood tests?” she asked her papa, her brazen stare locked on the demon.

While Harley gazed at him, Brak spread his legs wider. Holy shit. He had an erection. Hard to hide in tight pants. His hand dropped to his crotch.

Show off.

“That’s good, Papa. I’m glad you and Mama have been tested. Since neither of you has mage DNA, you can’t be Blood Coven descendants.”

She bet her bodyguard was an incubus or carnal demon. Because her father was on the Alliance’s board of directors, she read up on Aeternals. Those two breeds were the sexiest.

Harley struggled to maintain eye contact with Brak’s heated gaze. Shouldn’t jump the help. “Yes, I got my test the other day. Everything is fine.” She told her mother and father the same thing she had told Brak. The lie wouldn’t hurt, and it kept them from nagging her. She had been too busy to report to Alliance headquarters to give a sample. After all, if her parents weren’t Blood Coven descendants, neither was she.

“I need to go, Papa. Trial ends tomorrow. I still have to finish my prep for the closing argument. Afterward, I wait for the verdict.”

Harley disconnected. “Are you hungry, Brak?”

“Always.” He followed her to the kitchen. “I cooked up breakfast. Not that shit—I mean—junk you eat.”

---