Page 72 of The Music Demon

She nodded as she rose. “Let’s make a spectacle and walk down the grand staircase.”

Lyric had to grin at that even though he’d made up his mind ahead of time that he would not like Commander Storm. At all. He reclaimed a blank expression, but not until after Rosie’d noticed the initial reaction.

She led the way out of the office, down the hall, and to the top of the stairs. “So. You have a preference for outdoors.”

“Sometimes,” he said noncommittally.

“You’re right about the fact that I get so caught up in work that I forget to smell the lilies.”

He gave her a sideways look. “You like the way lilies smell?”

She barked out a laugh. “Come to think of it, I hate the way lilies smell. I just used that expression because it’s a thing people say.”

“By people, you mean human.”

“In this case, yeah.”

Everyone present on the lower level of the Abbey stopped to stare at Rosie and Lyric. The trainees were coming into their demonic abilities at different rates. Some far ahead. Some far behind. Those who were further along knew instantly that Lyric wasn’t just a good-looking guy. He was demon. Like them, but not. A natural-born.

A caretaker opened one of the massive double doors as they approached.

“Your doormen could dress better,” Lyric said, not caring that the old man could hear.

Rosie laughed again. “He’s not a doorman. Although he did just do a pretty good impression. Minus the ‘have a nice walk’.” She looked out at the grass training field. A couple of her students were lying down in the sun. “I don’t care how he dresses. We rarely have guests,” she said pointedly, “but when we do, we’re not trying to impress.” Glancing at Lyric. “So tell me, would you be impressed if my caretakers were dressed in striped pants, top coats, and tails?”

It was Lyric’s turn to chuckle. “I only wish I could be impressed so easily.”

Rosie nodded, looking down at the pink crushed granite that crunched beneath two pairs of boots.

From time to time she’d considered what it might mean to live abnormally long. She had no idea what her constitution had in store and would only find out by letting her life play out. There was a distinct possibility there would come a time when she would face each day alone. Without Glen, her father, Ram and Elora, Helm and maybe her mother as well. Impossible to say.

“What made you sad?” Lyric asked. Of course, he couldn’t care less personally, but he was curious how his comment had evoked melancholy.

She jerked her head toward him. Not being accustomed to one-on-one conversations with full-blooded, natural-born demons and unerring ability to read others, she hadn’t been consciously guarding her emotions. She was behaving like a walking tell-all.

“I was considering extraordinary long life. Extraordinary for humans that is. My future is a blank landscape. No idea what to expect because, so far as I know, there aren’t others with my exact makeup.”

“That’s the word on the street, so to speak.”

“Yes. So to speak. In the interest of honoring your request and getting you out of here fast, I’ll cut to the chase.”

“Good. Who’s being chased? You or me?”

Rosie smiled. “I’m beginning to understand what Shivaun sees in you. You’re entertaining.”

“I am entertaining,” he agreed. “But I’ve never entertained Shivaun. Not musically.”

That was interesting. “Well, now youhaveto tell me why.”

“In the interest of precise speech, let me assert that I do nothaveto tell you anything. But there’s no reason not to divulge my reason. As a music demon, I could persuade Shivaun to be my mate with a song, but singing a love song to a female interferes with free choice. I don’t want her to come to me because of compulsion. I want her to choose me.”

Rosie wasn’t expecting to hear anything of the sort. She cleared her throat. “That’s noble.”

Lyric chuckled. “There’s no call for insults. It’s simple logic. If I wanted an automaton instead of a mate, I understand there are very lifelike blowup dolls available from Japan. But what I want is Shivaun and everything that makes her real.”

“Why’d you pick her?”

“You know that’s none of your business.”