by Larissa Ione
From above, the sound of metal on metal and fists on flesh joined screeches of pain. All hell broke loose as a flash of light nearly blinded Runa, and then, standing where Tayla had been, was some sort of creature. Something that resembled Tayla, but was bigger, with batlike wings and scaly skin.
Not to mention huge teeth and claws. The chains holding the beast disintegrated, and it leaped for Roag.
For a moment, it looked as if the Tayla-thing was going to kick major ass, but as Roag’s minions joined in, Tayla began to fall beneath their pounding. Roag, bleeding from a gaping shoulder wound, snarled as he brought his blade down with both hands. Tayla screamed and flashed back to her human form, the blade buried in her abdomen.
Eidolon let loose a keening cry that echoed through the dungeon. A tomblike cold draft accompanied the sound of his anguish, both carrying on long after they should have faded away.
The battle drew closer, but Runa couldn’t look away from the sight of Eidolon’s mate writhing in pain on the floor.
“See what’s going on up there!” Roag barked at one of his demons.
The male who’d been waiting for his turn with Tayla hoofed it—literally—to the stairwell opening as dozens of demons spilled out. Runa watched helplessly as Kynan, Gem, and an assortment of demons, some wearing hospital scrubs, engaged in bloody, violent combat. When Gem took a blow to the head and collapsed to the floor, Kynan whipped a pistol from his leather jacket and blew a fist-sized hole through the chest of the demon that had struck Gem.
Still, even with Kynan’s impressive arsenal of weapons, Roag’s minions gained the upper hand and were slowly but surely beating down the good guys. Roag stood on the sidelines, hovering protectively over Sheryen.
Time slowed, and Runa felt a punch to the gut each time a friendly demon went down. Her pulse pounded in her ears, muting the screams of pain and the clank of metal on metal. In the cages, Shade and his brothers threw themselves against the bars and kicked at the doors.
“Runa!”
She barely heard the voice, was too engaged in a downward spiral of despair. Roag was winning. She was going to die a horrible death, and Shade was going to suffer for an eternity.
“Runa! The curse …” Kynan swung an odd-looking weapon, a double-ended S-curved blade, at one of the demons he was fighting, cutting a deep gouge in the creature’s side. He worked his way toward her, fierce concentration in his expression.
But whatever he intended to tell her would have to wait, because the sharp bite of a blade bit into her breast, and Roag loomed over her, evil intent burning in his gaze.
“No more stalling,” he snarled. “It’s time to take your heart.”
“No!” Shade slammed his entire body against the door of his cage, terror and adrenaline fueling his strength.
The door bowed, but it held. The cages had been made to hold the strongest of demons, and the spaces between the bars were too narrow to squeeze through no matter what species he shifted into.
Roag looked up from where he loomed over Runa and gave Shade a bone-chilling smile.
Kynan elbowed aside a Darquethoth, getting close enough to Runa to backhand Roag. Roag’s head snapped back and blood sprayed from his shriveled nose. The Darquethoth leaped onto Kynan’s back, but the human bared his teeth and lunged forward. Shade held his breath, praying to any god who would listen to let Kynan help Runa.
But the Darquethoth seized Kynan by the arm and dragged Kynan away. He shouted at Runa, his words muffled, but whatever he’d said made her eyes go wide. With one last, monumental effort, Kynan leaped, arm outstretched, his blade coming down so close to Runa’s wrist that Shade expected to see her hand separate from her arm.
Instead, the chain fell away, and she was free. The silver rod in her shoulder crippled her, but she rolled to the side, catching Roag with her legs. Snarling, she kicked, propelling Roag toward Shade.
The gods had answered, and he wasn’t going to disappoint. He caught Roag’s arm as his brother hit the cage door. The bars were narrow and his body was fading; he had little chance against Roag, but dammit, he was going to fuck up his big brother as much as he could.
“Family!” Runa’s voice cut through sounds of fighting as he yanked Roag against the cage so hard Roag’s skull cracked against a bar. “Your curse! Arik!”
Runa was making no sense. “What?”
He could hear the harsh rasp of her pained breaths as she struggled to her feet next to the altar Roag had put her on. “He found another translation for your curse. Loved one … or family.”
He’d been over this with Wraith. He could be rid of the Maluncoeur only if he transferred it to a loved one …
Family. Or … family …
Hell’s bones, could it be true? He didn’t take the time to think further. He had hold of Roag, and even as his brother started to slip from his grasp, he uttered the words Wraith had wanted him to say.
“Solumaya. Orentus. Kraktuse!”
Nothing happened. Fuck.
And then, the air between Shade and Roag began to vibrate. Slowly, Shade’s body grew solid, and parts of Roag flashed so milky-transparent that through it, Shade could see Runa’s stumbling approach. Yes! Excitement renewed his strength, and he held tight to Roag, who didn’t seem to notice that he now carried Shade’s curse.
Runa snared the key from Roag’s belt and leaped back as he swiped at her. One of Roag’s minions lunged for Runa, but Gem caught the lizardlike creature around the throat and slammed it to the ground.
“Release Eidolon,” Shade shouted to Runa. He was holding Roag too close to the door of his own cage. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt.
Once free, Eidolon put Roag on the ground with a fist to the face, and then dashed to Tayla as Runa unlocked Shade’s cage. He burst out. Roag’s minions advanced, and Roag regained his footing. In a single, smooth motion, Shade braced Runa against the cage and yanked the silver bar out of her shoulder, her strangled cry tearing through him.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed. His fingers found the wound, and he wished he had Eidolon’s gift to heal, but all he could do in the split second they had was stimulate the release of endorphins to ease her pain.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Behind you!”
Spinning, he jammed the heel of his palm into Roag’s throat. He’d love to pound the sonofabitch into a pulp, but they needed Wraith’s fighting skills. He released his younger brother and stood back. With a snarl, Wraith tore through Roag’s team like a knife through tissue paper.
A huge body slammed into Shade from the side. Caught off guard, he lurched into the wall and suddenly was fighting for his life. The demon was strong, far stronger than Shade. It gripped his throat with humanlike hands and used its wings to help steady itself as it tried to squeeze the life out of Shade.
A fallen angel. Gods, what was Roag doing with a fallen fucking angel in his castle?
The angel smiled at Shade’s futile struggles. And then, all he saw was fangs and blood. Runa, in her warg form, had ripped one of the angel’s wings off its body.
The angel wheeled away, and when Runa made to give chase, Shade grabbed her by the scruff. “Down, girl. They’re almost impossible to kill. Let him go.”
Roag’s agonized scream carried over the sound of battle. He was staring in horror at his hands. Oh, yeah, Roag had discovered the curse. His gaze locked on Eidolon, who was bent over Tayla, his dermoire glowing as he healed his mate.
Roag was going to transfer the curse to E.
Shade yanked a battle ax off the wall. In two strides, he was in striking distance.
Of Sheryen.
Roag reached for Eidolon. Shade swung. “This is for Skulk, you sonofabitch.”
Sheryen’s head separated from her body with a soft whisper. Roag pivoted around, his forward momentum knocking him into Eidolon.
“Sher!” Roag screamed, and for the first time ever, Shade saw genuine pain in his brother’s eyes. Roag kept screaming, and gradually, his voice, and his bo
dy, faded into nothingness.
“And that,” Shade said softly, “was for all of us.”
It was over. With Roag gone, his minions no longer held together. Some lost their courage and became easy prey for Gem, Kynan, and the hospital staff, and the rest fled. Wraith, probably more than half insane with bloodlust and the need for revenge, pursued, disappearing up the winding staircase.
Runa shifted, and Shade hauled her nude body against his. “You okay? I’ll get E to heal your injuries.”
“I can wait. Others need help more than I do.”
Shade glanced at E. “How is she?”
Tayla stood, brushing herself off. When many demons shifted, they retained their clothes, and Tayla was one of those fortunate species. “I’m fine. Good as new.”
Eidolon seemed as reluctant to leave Tayla’s side as Shade was to leave Runa’s, but several hospital staff members who’d come to the rescue were in bad shape. Still, Shade took the time to kiss Runa, a lingering, hot meeting of mouths that promised more later. He owed her so much, and he’d spend the rest of his life making up to her what he—and Roag—had done.
Kicking into medic mode, he broke away from her. Some of the injuries were severe enough that Shade had to dip into the medic kit Kynan had brought. Fortunately, since everyone except Runa was a medical professional in some capacity, triage went quickly, though they did lose one physician assistant, a lion shapeshifter who’d been on staff for nearly ten years. Walking woundeds took the more severely injured to the Harrowgate for transfer to the hospital. By the time Shade and Eidolon had done all they could, they were both exhausted.
Someone had raided the rooms in the castle and brought down some of the sacklike tunics Roag’s minions wore, so Runa and Shade donned them while Eidolon used the last of his energy to heal Runa, Gem, and Kynan, and when he was done, Shade made him take a seat on a wooden stool before he fell over. Tayla crawled into his lap and wrapped herself around him.
“Got all the bastards.” Wraith stumbled out of the stairwell, a mass of blood and gaping wounds. “And Solice.” He swayed and hit the stone floor with a crack of kneecaps. “That bitch.”
“Shit.”
Shade darted to him. He and E reached their brother at the same time, each grasping one shoulder to hold him up, and both sending waves of their power into him. Eidolon’s energy began to knit the massive injuries together, but the process was slow … E was drained. Cursing softly, Shade probed for internal injuries. Fortunately, Wraith’s organs were intact, but he was dangerously low on blood. His head hung so his chin touched his chest and his long hair concealed his face, and Shade wondered if Wraith was too weak to lift it.
“He needs to feed,” Shade said, coming to his feet. “Now.”
Straw on the floor stirred in the cold drafts and the silence. Gem stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”
An erotic swirl of lust spun up like a breeze from Wraith, and E raised an eyebrow. “You prepared for that? Because you’ll be beneath him with him inside you in about five seconds after he starts feeding.”
She swallowed, but nodded. “It’s not like I’m a virgin or anything.” There seemed to be some subtext there, but fuck if Shade knew what it was.
“No.” Kynan moved forward and knelt in front of Wraith. “I’ll do it. He’s fed from me before.”
E stood and shot Shade a look of surprise that had to match Shade’s own. When the hell had Wraith taken Kynan’s blood? And why? He couldn’t imagine Kynan allowing it, but Gem didn’t seem surprised. Maybe … nah. Seminus demons didn’t do males—they could reach orgasm only with a female. Though he supposed a Sem could screw around with a male as long as a female was present. So had Gem, Ky, and Wraith …
Shade shook his head, needing to clear it. His mind was taking him places he did not want to go.
“Will he still need sex?” Runa asked, and Shade nodded.
“Best to have both at the same time, but if he can get blood now, we can find him a female at the hospital.”
They backed away as Kynan rolled up his sleeve and offered Wraith his wrist. Wraith’s nostrils flared, and before Shade could shout a warning, Wraith sank his fangs into the human’s throat. Kynan flailed, convulsed once, and then relaxed.
“I’ll bet he doesn’t volunteer to do that again,” Shade muttered.
After a few minutes, Gem knelt next to Wraith, who growled at her, his gold eyes viewing her as a threat to his food.
“Easy there,” she said softly, as she took Kynan’s wrist. “Wraith, you need to stop.”
Wraith jerked Kynan closer, taking long, powerful pulls as though trying to ingest as much nourishment as possible before his meal was taken away.
Shade felt for Kynan’s pulse on the other side of his neck. It was fast, too fast, and weak. He probed with his power, and yep, the human was too low on blood for comfort.
“Stop, bro. Now.”
Wraith sucked harder. Eidolon grasped Wraith’s shoulder and tugged him back.
“Dammit, you’re killing him.” E cuffed the back of Wraith’s head. “You’re going to kill Kynan. Wraith!”
The gold in Wraith’s eyes faded, replaced by electric blue. He disengaged his fangs, blinking as he came out of his bloodlust. Kynan sank to the ground, way pale and way unconscious.
“Hypovolemic shock.” Shade caught Kynan’s head before it hit the floor. “We need to get him to the hospital.” He shoved his arms beneath Ky’s limp body, but Wraith locked his hand around Shade’s wrist.
“I’ll carry him.” The determination in Wraith’s voice left no room for argument. His brother needed to do this.
“Fine,” Shade said, “but step on it.”
Chapter 22
Kynan lay unconscious in the hospital bed, hooked up to an IV delivering B-positive blood. Shade stood quietly at the foot of Ky’s bed, Runa at his side. Wraith sat close to the rails, head in hands and looking as if he’d been through the Neethul slave pits a few times.
“He’s going to be okay, man.” Shade clapped his hand on Wraith’s shoulder, now covered, like the rest of them, in scrubs, and his brother looked up, dark circles ringing his bloodshot eyes.
“That’s what Gem said.”
“She wouldn’t lie.”
Wraith nodded. “I’m just going to wait until he wakes up.”
“And then?”
“There’s something I gotta do.”
Shade knew better than to lecture Wraith about eating junkies or getting into fights, and after Roag’s little revelation about E being tortured when Wraith went over his monthly allotment of kills, Shade had a feeling that Wraith would be careful from now on. At least, he’d be careful not to kill. Careful with his life? That was another question.
Shade squeezed Runa’s hand, and they slipped silently out into the hall, where E was waiting. Tay and Gem were talking a few doors down, giving them some privacy.
“How is he?” E asked.
“Ky or Wraith?”
“Both.”
“Ky’s looking better. Wraith …” Shade shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“I’m glad Roag’s torment is eternal,” Eidolon muttered.
“You and me both, bro.”
E gazed absently into the room, and then he turned back to Shade. “I have some good news. First, Luc’s alive.”
“Say again?”
“Luc. You know, Runa’s sire?”
A surge of possessiveness had Shade clenching his teeth, but Runa stroked his fingers with her thumb, bringing him down. “Yeah, you could’ve not mentioned that part.” The sire thing stuck like a bone in his craw. “So how’s he alive?”
“One of your new EMTs found him. He resuscitated him, got him on life support, and after that it was a waiting game. I just checked on him. He’s out of his coma and pissed as hell. Says some burned thing disguised as you tried to kill him. Also says we just put off the inevitable by saving him.”
“That boy needs an attitude adjustment.” Shade narrowed h
is eyes at E. “Hold up … when did you learn he survived?”
“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.”