What A Demon Wants. Kathy Love

harmless ribbing, really. Right, guys?”

      She turned pleading eyes toward Pasha and Andrey. Her pained, worried expression seemed to please them, because the air shifted, some of their anger ebbing away, like water slowly swirling down a drain.

      Well, a clogged drain maybe. And unfortunately Jude wasn’t taking her cue.

      “Maybe you two should just go,” Jude said. “I don’t appreciate your veiled threats.”

      Rage rose up in the air again. And now the drain was totally stopped up. Great. Ahh, if only there was such a thing as emotional Liquid-Plumr.

      “You know, I think you should mind your own business,” Pasha said, his pale gaze eerier than usual. Iridescent and snapping with anger

      “Ellina is my business.” Jude stepped away from her, coming around the desk to be on the same side as her brothers.

      She followed, again touching his arm.

      “Jude, you’re really making too much of this. It’s all fine. Right, guys?”

      She gave her brothers another desperate look. This could be bad. Pasha and Andrey wouldn’t fight fair, and really, this situation wasn’t worth a brawl. They’d come here to taunt her—for reasons she still didn’t comprehend—and she should have let them do it and be done with them.

      No good ever came from defending herself with these guys. Not that she ever learned that lesson. She always felt the need to get little digs in whenever she could. Maybe that was proof she was their sibling.

      But she’d clearly learned she should just keep her mouth shut, especially with Jude here.

      “I can’t believe you’re threatening a demon,” Andrey said almost conversationally, moving around the room, acting as if he was just casually pacing the room as he talked.

      More fear crept up Ellina’s spine, and she couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through her as her gaze shifted back and forth between Jude and her brothers. Apparently feeling her worried looks, Jude glanced at her, just a quick flick of his eyes toward her, but that was all it took for Andrey to make his move.

      He lunged, his attack nearly invisible, a barely there whir of motion. But to her amazement, before her brother’s lightning strike could even make contact, Jude threw a hand up, capturing Andrey by the neck.

      With only one hand and no sign of exertion, Jude lifted Andrey off the floor until his feet dangled inches above the ground as if he was nothing more than a limp rag doll. Certainly not a tall, leanly muscled demon.

      Andrey didn’t react immediately, clearly shocked. Then he dematerialized from Jude’s grasp like vapor disappearing through his fingers. Her brother reappeared on the other side of the room, his anger still intact, but now her sibling was visibly shaken.

      Andrey started to lift a hand to his neck, then caught himself. He wouldn’t give Jude the satisfaction of that much reaction.

      Ellina glanced to Pasha, who looked equally as wary of Jude, but his pale eyes still snapped and glowed.

      “What are you?” he asked Jude.

      Jude’s expression was calm, almost blank. He didn’t answer the question, but he did reply, his voice low and even. “I won’t let you hurt Ellina.”

      Something unfamiliar curled through Ellina’s chest. A feeling between relief and something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Maybe a need to trust this man she barely knew. A longing to have someone to trust.

      Pasha’s jaw tensed as if he was grinding his teeth. Clearly not the answer he wanted.

      “What are you?” he repeated.

      This time Jude didn’t answer at all.

      Pasha and Andrey stared at Jude for several moments, the air in the room almost suffocating. Tension and male aggression seemed to be sucking the oxygen out of the enclosed space.

      At least for the sole female.

      “You know, I think we’ve all just gotten off to the wrong start here,” Ellina finally said, when it appeared that the men were going to be satisfied to just stare at each other indefinitely in some silent challenge.

      It was almost on the tip of her tongue to add, Can’t we all just get along?

      She suppressed one of her inappropriate laughs at the thought of throwing out a “where’s the love” sort of platitude. Now that would really piss all of them off, wouldn’t it?

      “I think you need to leave,” Jude finally said, further positioning himself so she was shielded.

      “I think you need to rein in your boy toy, Sis,” Andrey called to her over Jude’s broad shoulder. His eyes narrowed into disturbing black slits.

      The laugh she’d already been repressing broke free in a startled burst. Boy toy? Really?

      She knew the situation wasn’t funny, but boy toy? Could this whole encounter get any more absurd?

      From her angle, Ellina couldn’t see Jude’s expression. But she noticed his muscles seemed to bulge under his skin as if he was itching to attack. Maybe being called a boy toy was a fighting word for him.

      For whatever reason, that idea struck her as amusing too. This whole thing was crazy. Bratty brothers, fake boyfriends, the bandying about of terms like boy toy. It was all nuts.

      And what was the point of these three men hell-bent on this stupid standoff like feral dogs, hackles raised, teeth bared? It was all ridiculous, really.

      Ellina giggled, despite herself, and found all three men’s attention suddenly riveted on her.

      “I’m sorry,” she said, which also struck her as amusing. What was she apologizing for? She didn’t even understand what was going on. But she did manage to keep her laughter in check. Just barely

      Clearly the long writing hours and the new member of her household were pushing her to the edge. She clamped her lips tighter together.

      “I’m glad you find this all so amusing,” Pasha said.

      Andrey raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

      Jude just frowned at her as if she’d lost her mind.

      As she gazed from face to face, more laughter bubbled up in her.

      All this machismo. And for what? Her giggle spilled over, sounding more like a strangled squeak than a laugh.

      Of course, she must look quite mad. But it was ludicrously funny.

      Well, briefly.

      Then it wasn’t.

      Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the vague swish of Andrey lifting his arms in an abrupt upward motion.

      And with that simple gesture the room flew into utter chaos. Her many meticulously organized notes swirled into the air, eddying around her office like trash in a windstorm. Books soared off the shelves, hitting the floor and the opposite wall like cracks of thunder.

      Ellina screamed, ducking, as a hardback, possibly her first bestseller, nearly hit her in the head. Jude grabbed her arm and half dragged/half threw her behind her desk, pushing her down to her knees.

      But even with the barricade of the large desk, Ellina still had to cover her head to protect herself from the papers, pens, paper clips, and all the other odds and ends that had once been on her desk that now whipped around them like office supply projectiles.

      A stapler glanced off Jude’s shoulder, but rather than falling to the ground it launched back into the air like a self-propelled torpedo. She cried out as several paper clips hit her arms, stinging like bees as they connected with her bare skin.

      Jude positioned himself around her like a human cage, blocking further attack, but she could hear the items whacking the desk. The walls. Jude.

      “Stop it,” she