by Larissa Ione
“After we lost Roag in the park and you went back to your cave with Runa. I meant to tell you, but …”
“Roag grabbed us.” Shade took a deep breath and asked Runa the question he really didn’t want to know the answer to. “Can you sense Luc?”
She grinned. “I can’t feel a thing.”
Eidolon cleared his throat, and Shade knew there was some doctorish know-it-all speak coming up. “His death, however brief, must have severed the connection, like what happened to us when Roag died. I have a theory about that—”
“What’s the other good news?” Shade cut him off, because really, he didn’t give a shit and wasn’t going to look a gift hell stallion in the mouth. Not that he’d do that, anyway, because the things breathed fire.
E didn’t miss a beat. “Thanks to your information about Runa’s Army experimentation, I was able to narrow my focus.”
“You saying you have a cure?”
Eidolon nodded. “I’m close. I was able to isolate the proteins that caused your infection. I should have a vaccine ready in a couple of weeks. Month, tops.”
Yes. Shade wanted to shout to the heavens. Wanted to grab Runa and twirl her around until they were both dizzy. “What about Runa?”
She touched Shade’s shoulder, and her hopes and fears transmitted to him in a surge of electricity. Eidolon’s expression quickly brought them both back down to earth.
“You can’t cure her,” Shade muttered. “Why not?”
“A warg’s bite alters human DNA,” Eidolon explained. “Whatever the military did to her affected the way her genes synthesize proteins. Those proteins allow her to shift at will, and they’re also what infected you—without altering your DNA. I can destroy the proteins in both of you, and it’ll cure you … but all it will do to her is end her ability to shift at will.”
Runa blew out a long breath. “And I’d still grow fur during the full moon.”
“Yes,” Eidolon said. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m getting used to being a werewolf. It’s been handy a couple of times. And hey, the quadrupled lifespan alone is worth it.”
Gods, that was something he hadn’t considered. If she became human again, he’d lose her way too soon. He couldn’t handle that. Breaking the bond wouldn’t physically kill him, but a broken heart would.
She squeezed Shade’s shoulder. “Get yourself cured. You’ve had enough to deal with without having the werewolf thing on top of it.”
He didn’t deserve her, but man, he was so lucky to have her. He hated Roag with every cell in his body, but the bastard had given him Runa. It hadn’t seemed like a gift at the time, but now he would never regret the bond he had with her, even if it didn’t go both ways.
She knew what he was thinking. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “Markings or no, you’re mine. I love you, Shade.”
He drew her hard against him. “But with the bond being one-sided, you still can’t feel me. If I need you, if I’m hurt—”
“I’ll never be far from you. We’ll work it out.”
“Damn, I love you.”
She sighed, a sweet, soft sound he’d never grow tired of hearing. “Agree to the shot.”
“I’m not so sure I want it now.”
Eidolon backed away to give them a chance to talk.
“Don’t turn this down,” she said. “This is your chance to be free.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be.” He drew his finger along her jawline, enjoying the way her champagne eyes darkened to a smooth, swirling caramel. “Maybe I like what we do to each other during the full moon. What we do to each other when we wake up, and the moon is still stirring us.”
“We’ll still have that. You can shapeshift into a warg any time you want.”
“Shade.” Eidolon came close again, bringing Tay with him. “There’s something else to consider. Your offspring.”
“What about them? Runa isn’t human anymore, so they’ll be born full-blooded Sems.”
“Yes, but they’ll also be wargs.”
“Runa wasn’t a born warg, so that shouldn’t happen.” Humans who were turned into werewolves gave birth to normal human babies—unless conception took place while the mother was in beast form—but those born as werewolves usually gave birth to werewolves no matter how the young were conceived.
“I think the experimentation could have screwed with that. If we cure the lycanthropy in you, I can use your antibodies to create an immunization for your children. Even those conceived in beast form during a breeding heat.”
Shade blew out a breath. He didn’t want the cure for himself, but he wouldn’t wish lycanthropy on his offspring. Without mates, full-moon nights would be dangerous for them and any female who got in their way. “Fine. Do it.”
Runa reached for his face with both hands and brought his mouth down hard against hers. “I love you,” she said, against his lips. Her voice was a deep, husky rasp that lit him up the way only she could. “And you know how I’m going to show you?”
He pulled back a little. “How?”
“You know that thing you never let me do when we were dating?” Her gaze flickered to the rapidly growing bulge in his pants, and he took in a ragged breath.
The image of her on her knees, taking him into her mouth … damn. “I couldn’t let you,” he croaked. “My semen is an aphrodisiac. I wouldn’t have been able to explain why you went mad with lust afterward.”
Her wicked grin cut off his words and his breath. Nearly stopped his heart, as well. “Not that I’ve ever needed an aphrodisiac with you, but it sounds interesting.” She licked her lips, the little vixen, and that was it. He was done for, beyond the point of no return.
He grabbed her hand and turned to E. “I’m outta here. Call if you need me, but do not call any time soon.”
E opened his mouth, but Tayla walked up to them and shot E a shut-up look. Way to go, slayer. He started toward the Harrowgate, wondering which of his two places he’d take Runa to, but dammit, both his apartment and his cave were a good walk from the exit point. Again, Runa knew what he was thinking, and she tugged him to her.
“Do you think there’s an empty exam room available?”
Amusement—and not a small amount of lust—bubbled through him. “Could be needing it for hours …”
“Days,” she said, with a naughty smile.
His insides liquefied and his outside went harder than stone. “Oh, yeah. Let’s go.”
Eidolon watched Shade whisk Runa away, their aroused state obvious to his incubus senses. His own body stirred to life, so when Tayla wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “Do you think there’s more than one exam room open?” he didn’t hesitate.
He slid a glance at Wraith on the way past Kynan’s room and prayed that Wraith, too, would find the peace he so desperately needed.
But Eidolon couldn’t shake the feeling that in Wraith’s case, prayers went unheard.
The obnoxious beeping of hospital equipment pierced the dark depths of Kynan’s dreams and yanked him into real life. Where there was a demon parked next to the bed.
“Wraith?” Kynan blinked, trying to get the grit out of his eyes. He felt as if he’d been asleep for a week. Maybe he had. And why the hell was he in the hospital?
As a patient?
Wraith sat forward in his chair, propping his forearms on his spread knees. “’Sup, buddy.”
Buddy? Kynan blinked again. He wasn’t at UG. He was in the Twilight Zone.
“How … what happened?” The moment the words passed his lips, he remembered the battle in the Irish castle. But he’d only taken minor injuries, and Eidolon had healed those. “How did I get here?”
Wraith rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his feet. “Yeah, ah … that’s sort of my fault.”
This was just getting weirder and weirder. Wraith was never uncomfortable, and as far as Kynan knew, the demon had never regretted anything in his life. But he was definitely doing the I
-fucked-up shuffle.
“What do you mean, it’s your fault? What did you do?”
“Nothing much, really. Just nearly drained you of blood.”
Frowning, Kynan searched his memory. After the battle, they’d triaged and treated the injured. Wraith had gone after the escapees. He’d returned, bleeding and battered … and in desperate need of blood. Yeah, it was coming back. Including how Gem had volunteered to be Wraith’s donor, and Kynan had nixed that right quick. And it wasn’t as though he hadn’t fed Wraith before.
Only the first time had been about Ky’s need to connect with Lori on some level. To understand even a little of what had gone on in her head the night she’d been in Wraith’s arms. But the second time Wraith had come to Kynan’s vein had been about keeping him off Gem.
It had also been about helping the demon, because as pissed as Ky’d been at Wraith for what he’d done to him in E’s office, he was also grateful. Wraith had helped him make peace with his feelings for Lori, and even though the rest of his life was still fucked up, at least that part of it had healed.
“What else?”
Wraith’s head snapped up. “What do you mean, what else?”
“I mean, why the long face?”
“I nearly put you in the grave, you stupid human!”
Ah, now there was the Wraith they all knew and loved. “Good to see that guilt hasn’t affected your utter lack of tact.”
“Good to see nearly dying hasn’t affected the fact that you’re an asshole,” Wraith shot back.
Kynan grinned. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, why don’t you tell me what I missed while I was out.”
That fast, the awkwardness in the room dissipated. The tension in Wraith’s shoulders, the embarrassment that he’d been caught giving a shit about someone, disappeared.
“Gem hardly left your side,” Wraith said, back to his cocky self.
Kynan blew out a long breath. “She’s a doctor.”
Wraith snorted. “She wants to play doctor.”
“Let it go, man.”
“Dude.” Wraith’s eyes bored into him. “You need to tap that.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Says the incubus.”
Wraith rolled his eyes. “You humans are so damned weighed down by morals. It’s sex. Your body is made for pleasure. Why not enjoy it?”
“Morals are not my issue.” Kynan didn’t know what the hell his issue was anymore.
“Then what? Don’t BS me and say you aren’t hot for her.”
“Well, duh. Look at her.”
Wraith waggled his brows. “I do.”
“That’s not a screaming endorsement. If it breathes, you look at it.”
“As E likes to point out, breathing is optional.”
Sighing, Kynan threw his head back and stared at the heavy-duty lift chains hanging from the black ceiling. Somewhere in the hospital, something screeched. “I don’t know, man. Lori really fucked with my head.”
“You’ve made peace with that now.”
The reminder that Wraith had invaded his mind chafed a little, but he was right. “It’s not that. I don’t know if I can trust anyone like that again.”
“So who says you have to get that serious with Gem? See what I mean about you humans? Didn’t you ever do the man-whore thing when you were younger?”
“I was pretty young when I met Lori.”
“And you didn’t fuck around on her?”
Kynan snorted. “Nope. Stupid me, huh?”
“Sounds to me like it’s time you get out of the scrubs you’ve been hiding in and have a little fun.”
Wraith was calling him out. Wraith, who Kynan had thought to be so self-absorbed that he didn’t notice anything else around him. The guy was far more observant than Ky—and probably his brothers—gave him credit for.
Wraith shoved to his feet. “Look, dude. I know your wife did a number on you. But you’re giving her more power than she deserves. Dump your baggage and get on with your life.”
“Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”
“Damn fucking straight.” Wraith clamped a strong hand on Ky’s shoulder. “But I’m about to practice what I just preached. See you around, human.”
Wraith strode out of the room, his boots striking the stone floor with heavy, ominous thuds. Kynan had a sudden feeling that whatever the demon was up to was going to have consequences that would roll through the hospital like a never-ending seismic wave.
Knowing he couldn’t do anything about it, Kynan swung his feet over the edge of the bed and yanked the IV line out of his hand. He couldn’t believe he was going to take advice from Wraith, but the guy had a point. Kynan had spent far too much time drowning himself in work and alcohol, and in the process he’d lost himself. It was time to deal with his demons.
Gem was pouring a cup of coffee when someone knocked at the door to her apartment. “Come in!”
Boots thumped on the floor, and she turned. Kynan stood in the doorway to the kitchen, filling it, owning it, making her breath catch. “Here’s the deal,” he said, without so much as a hello. “I spent my life doing good, knowing good from bad, fighting evil. I wanted to save the freaking world. And then all of a sudden, evil wasn’t so evil, and the people I thought were good were bad. I lost myself for a time, Gem, and I need to get myself back. I went from killing demons to saving them … to wanting to have sex with them.” His eyes darkened dangerously, and her breath caught. “But I need to regroup. Figure out where I fit in this crazy world.”
The cup in her hand shook. She put it down before she spilled. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m going back to The Aegis.”
Her heart plummeted. “You’re … leaving us?”
He closed the distance between them in half a dozen strides, halting just inches from her. So close his heat engulfed her, and his rugged, male scent washed a tide of sensual hunger through her blood. “Hell, no. Listen to me. It’s not safe for me to be working at Underworld General anymore. I’m pretty sure the military is watching me, and I won’t put the hospital at risk. I’ll be working for The Aegis, but I’m not going anywhere. I have friends here. E, Shade, Wraith. Tayla.” His hand came up to cup her cheek. “You.”
Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. “Friends. That’s why you’re here? To tell me we’re friends?”
“I don’t want to be friends.” He watched her with those patient, navy eyes of his. “I want to be lovers.”
Oh, yes, yes, yes! Excitement and joy bubbled through her. This had to be a dream.
Kynan traced her lower lip with his thumb. “I figure that if Tayla can serve in The Aegis while being half-demon and being mated to a demon, I can date a demon.”
“You’re … you’re serious.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile as he inclined his head in a slow nod. “Yeah.”
Kynan’s eyes darkened with longing, and she wondered if her own gaze had become as heated. He slid his hands up her arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin. When he reached her shoulders, he anchored her in place. Slowly, so slowly she wanted to gnash her teeth, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Someone knocked on the door. “Ignore it,” he murmured against her lips.
“I plan to.”
The door exploded inward. Kynan wheeled around, shoved her behind him. The next thing she heard was the sound of automatic weapons being brought to bear.
Fuck. Kynan had suspected that the R-XR was watching him, but he hadn’t expected them to come out into the open. He figured they’d hang back and watch his movements, his contacts. If they knew about Gem’s demon side … he reached back, tucked her more fully behind him, and faced off with the ex–Delta Force operative leading the team. His hair, cut in a severe high-and-tight, was as dark as his expression.
“Lower your fucking weapons, Arik.”
Arik gave a curt nod, and his men, all dressed in black BDUs, stoo
d down. “We need to talk.”
“Then talk.”
“Trust me. We want to do this privately.” Arik moved into the living room, and Kynan had no choice but to follow.
“Stay here,” he told Gem. “I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not.” She smiled at him, and then scowled at Arik through the opening. “They’re going to pay for my door.”
“I’ll let them know.” He squeezed her hand and then moved off to Arik, though he kept Gem in his sights. He faced off with the other man, doing his best to keep his temper in check.
“What the fuck?” So much for the temper.
“I’m sorry we had to do it this way,” Arik said. “But you said you wouldn’t come in.”
“That’s because I wasn’t in the mood to be tortured for information.”
“You wouldn’t be tortured, but that’s not what this has been about. The fact that you’re working in a demon hospital is, ah, disturbing, and we could use the intel, but that’s not why Runa was sent to find you.”
“I’m starting to lose my patience, so get to the point.”
Arik glanced into the kitchen and lowered his voice. “We need you to come into R-XR.”
“No means no, buddy.”
“No is for when you have a choice.”
Kynan clenched his fists. “Tell me why I should go without a fight.”
Arik didn’t tense up, didn’t do anything to provoke. “You know that every military member attacked by a demon is tested by the R-XR.”
Yeah, he knew. He’d gone through a battery of tests before the military released him to The Aegis. “So?”
“New technology has become available, and we’ve run old tests again.” Arik glanced down before looking back up, directly into Kynan’s eyes. “Something came up in yours. A suspicious gene.”
Kynan’s stomach took a dive to his feet. “Do not say it’s a demon gene, Arik. Don’t. Even. Say. It.”
“That’s the thing, Ky. We think it’s something else.”
“What? Shapeshifter?”
Arik shook his head. “It’s got divine coding. I don’t know the fancy technical term for it. I’m just the muscle.”