Passion Unleashed (19 page)

“Someone sedate her,” he said, his voice rough and low with the effort he was expending to talk while keeping the fantasy going. “We can’t let her see too much. And I need to get her back through the Harrowgate.”

Eidolon was already on it, was preparing to inject meds into her IV line. “So… Josh?”

Heat scorched Wraith’s cheeks. “Long story.”

Once the sedative had been injected, Shade palmed her forehead again. “She’s out.”

Gratefully, Wraith pulled out of her mind. “She’s okay?”

“She’s going to wake up with one hell of a headache, but she should be fine,” E said.

Gem gestured to Serena. “So why am I here?”

E kept his gaze on Wraith as he talked to Gem. “You’re here to confirm Serena’s virginity.”

“Or lack of,” Shade muttered.

“I told you…” Wraith growled.

“Yeah, I know. But can you say with one hundred percent certainty that she didn’t give it up to someone else? Or maybe some sort of incubus put a spell on her and took her while she was sleeping. We can’t be sure. She got hurt, and that shouldn’t have happened. Which probably means she’s no longer a virgin. And if that’s the case, you’re wasting valuable time with her.”

“It hasn’t been—” Wraith snapped his mouth shut before he said something stupid.

Fuck.

“Hasn’t been what?” Shade’s smirk said he knew exactly what Wraith had been about to say.

“Nothing.” Wraith’s heart kicked in his chest as he looked at Serena, lying so still in the bed. “I just don’t want Gem poking around.”

“Would you rather I did it?” E asked.

“Hell no!” Wraith drew in a deep breath, which didn’t do nearly enough to calm him. He seriously needed to get a grip. Maybe her virginity had been taken, but the charm only partially transferred. Clearly, Byzamoth had done something to Serena. “Fine. But make it fast. And you two?” He gestured to his brothers. “You wait outside.”

Shade strode past, and E clapped Wraith on the shoulder. “Come with us. We need to talk.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Outside the room, Wraith paced, unsure what he was more nervous about—Serena’s possible lack of virginity, her health, or the fact that some mad demon was after her. Had hurt her. Man, he really wanted to cause Byzamoth a whole lot of hurt, because some weird possessive instinct had come over him, and fighting it was starting to feel like a waste of time and energy.

Both of which he was short on.

Eidolon crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

“We were on the Island of Philae. Looking for some tablet that can be used to shut down the Harrowgates.”

“Ah, not cool,” Shade said.

“Duh.” Wraith reached up to rub the back of his neck, wincing when he discovered the gash there. Immediately, E replaced Wraith’s hand with his own and channeled a healing wave into the wound.

Pain shot straight up Wraith’s vertebrae and into his skull. E’s healing gift often caused extreme discomfort, even as it healed. When it was done Eidolon backed off.

“Better?” When Wraith nodded, E propped himself against the wall again. “Back to Philae,” he prompted.

“Right.” Wraith resumed pacing. “I sensed demonic presences the moment we stepped onto the island. The Harrowgate had been used. A lot.”

“Philae is a place of worship for several species, right?”

“Yep, so I wasn’t too concerned at first. Which should have been a fucking clue, because I’m always concerned.”

Shade looked up from checking his cell phone, probably making sure Runa hadn’t tried to contact him. Those two were connected at the hip. If she didn’t force him to go to work, he’d never leave their home. “So was the attack directed at you?”

“Why would it be directed at me?”

Shade rolled his eyes. “Like it’s so out of the realm of possibility that someone would attack you. You know how you’re always making friends.”

“You’re a riot,” Wraith said. “But the guy who hurt her was the same dude who was talking to Serena when I arrived in Alexandria the first night, and who later showed up at the Hall of Caracalla. This is definitely about her.” He shook his head. “I thought it might be about the artifacts she was after, but it’s too coincidental that she’s being stalked by a guy who can hurt her.”

“If he’d already gotten her charm, then why would he want to hurt her?”

“I’m telling you, he didn’t get it. No one did.”

Gem swept open the curtain. “Wraith’s right. This human is untouched.”

Wraith bit back an I-told-you-so. “So how the hell could anything hurt her if she’s still a virgin?”

“We’ll work on that,” E said. “In the meantime, you need to work on getting the charm. I’m surprised you aren’t taking the opportunity while she’s sedated to get her ready and willing…”

Wraith found himself in his brother’s face, nose to nose. “You think I’m so demented that I’d take her in her sleep?”

Eidolon’s dark gaze narrowed on him, but he said nothing. Wraith ground his teeth, just waiting for his brother to say something stupid. Shade’s hand came down on both Wraith’s and Eidolon’s shoulders.

“Now’s not the time for this,” Shade said. “But Wraith, you’ve got to do something. You’re running out of time.”

“Gee, thanks for the news flash.”

E scrubbed a hand over his face, and then froze. “Wait. If her charm isn’t working…”

“Then maybe it won’t work for Wraith, either,” Shade finished.

“It’s working,” Wraith said. “None of the other demons on the island could touch her.”

“So why the one guy?”

Wraith shrugged. “Sounds like a visit to our resident angel is in order. Can one of you take care of it?” Wraith stalked into Serena’s room. Gently, he removed the tape holding the IV catheter in Serena’s hand. “I’m taking her to her hotel room.”

“I think you should wait,” E said. “I’d like to run tests. Maybe there’s a medical answer to why this one demon can get past the charm.”

“Is she healthy enough to go?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then I’m taking her.”

“Wraith—”

“Don’t fuck with me on this.” He pulled the catheter free of her vein, stopped the bleeding with a gauze pad and direct pressure. “She needs to be topside. She needs sunlight. Air. I don’t want her waking up and seeing even more of the hospital. There’s no way I can explain, and I’m not messing with her memories again.”

He could practically feel his brothers’ stunned gazes, but they said nothing as E touched Serena’s hand and healed the tiny spot where the IV had been, erasing all evidence of having been in a hospital.

Gently, Wraith gathered her in his arms, her weight so pitifully light. “Let me know what you find out. I’m outta here.”

“Wraith.” E’s stern voice brought him to a halt. “You need to close the deal. Now.”

“Yeah, about that? I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m not going to kill her.” He spun around and met their surprised gazes head on. “Sucks to lose the hospital, but you two will survive. So stop with the urgency bullshit. It’s getting old.”

Shade grabbed Wraith’s biceps in a bruising hold. “That’s the thing… this isn’t about just you or the hospital anymore, bro. Seems that all of our life forces are tied to the hospital. As you die, UG dies. And when the hospital goes…”

A chill sliced through Wraith, leaving behind raw grief and incapaciting pain. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, and when he finally could, all he could do was finish Shade’s sentence.

“So do you and E.”

Eidolon and Shade swept through the hospital, both seeking out the one being who might possibly know something about what was going on with Serena.

Reaver.

Since the intercom was down, Shade checked out the dining hall and gym while E hit the patient’s rooms. He found the fallen angel finishing up with a hyena shifter in the next room.

“I need to speak with you.”

Reaver nodded, his mane of golden hair swishing around his shoulders. He patted the teenaged hyena on the shoulder. “Good as new. But stay away from lions from now on.”

The boy rolled his eyes. Like their counterparts in the animal world, hyena and lion shapeshifters hated each other with deadly ferocity. But the kid didn’t argue, merely thanked Reaver and beat feet out of the room.

Reaver started cleaning up the area, dumping bloody bandages and wrappers in the biohazard bins. “What’s up?”

Eidolon cut right to the chase. “We need more information about Serena Kelley.”

Reaver fumbled the shears in his hand, but recovered quickly. “I’ve said more than enough.”

“Bullshit.”

For a moment, Reaver continued his clean-up, almost frantically, as though finishing would get him out of the conversation. Eidolon settled in for the long haul, braced one shoulder against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest and his feet at the ankles, a silent message that said he wasn’t going anywhere until he got what he’d come for.

“You’re going to talk.”

Reaver snarled, his beautiful face twisted into as deadly an expression as Eidolon had ever seen from him. He hadn’t known much about fallen angels until Reaver came to him, wanting a job and a place to stay, and though Reaver had been at UG for sixteen years, Eidolon still knew very little.

“Serena is not something I can discuss with demons.”

“You’ve already discussed her, and in case you hadn’t noticed, you aren’t exactly bound by heavenly law anymore.”

Pain flashed in Reaver’s blue eyes. “I am bound by no law, heavenly or otherwise, since I’ve not entered Sheoul. But that doesn’t mean I don’t follow any rules.”

Eidolon’s Justice demon background gave him a sense of fair play, of law and order, and an appreciation for rules. But a lot of lives were at stake and his head fucking hurt and rules could take a flying fuck out the window.

“Here’s the deal,” he said, pushing himself off the doorjamb. “Wraith brought her in a little while ago. They were attacked by demons, and she was injured.”

Reaver looked so stricken Eidolon would have thought someone had died. “He already has the charm.”

“No.”

“Then she gave it to someone else.” Reaver sank down on a rolling stool and buried his face in his hands.

“We confirmed her virginity,” Shade said from the doorway. “It’s not possible that she gave it to someone.”

“Neither is her getting hurt.” The fallen angel’s voice was muffled by his palms.

Eidolon closed his eyes, thinking. “So there is nothing, nothing at all, that can harm her?”

“What part of divine charm are you not under-standing?”

“Okay, then what about someone else who is charmed? Could they hurt her?”

Reaver’s head snapped up. “I wouldn’t think so, but…”

“But what?” Shade asked. “Looks like maybe you heavenly geniuses didn’t think of everything, huh?”

“I just don’t know why another Sentinel would try to harm her. It makes no sense.”

Eidolon pondered that for a second. “Could they turn evil?”

“Unlikely.”

Eidolon cocked an eyebrow. “But you don’t know for sure.” Reaver didn’t reply, which was answer enough. “Can you contact your angel buddies and see—”

“No!” Reaver came to his feet. “I am not allowed contact with those who still serve.”

Eidolon got in the fallen angel’s face. “What are you allowed to do? You aren’t allowed to talk. You aren’t allowed to help. Seems like you are pretty damned useless to everyone.” E poked Reaver in the chest. “I get that you aren’t willing to help Wraith, but dammit, Reaver, don’t you feel the unrest in the underworld? Serena is a part of it, and we’ve got to find out why. You need to open the fuck up.”

Reaver’s lips peeled back to reveal two sharp canines Eidolon had never seen before. “Never. You. Are. Demons.”

“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but so are you.”

Reaver’s head rocked back with such force Eidolon expected to hear the crack of spine. And then Reaver’s fist was in Eidolon’s face, and Eidolon hit the wall so hard the plaster came down around him as he hit the floor.

“What the fuck?” Stunned, Shade looked between Reaver and E. “The Haven spell—”

He was cut off by the blare of sirens and the sound of battle. Running footsteps turned into a skid, and Gem popped her head through the doorway. “Haven spell has gone down. Hospital’s in chaos. This isn’t good, E. This isn’t good.”

Lore stepped out of the Harrowgate into Underworld General’s emergency room and came to an abrupt halt. What. The. Hell

Sure, fighting, fucking, and general chaos were staples anywhere you went in the demon world, but he’d figured a hospital would at least have a few rules. A demon of unknown species came at him, but he sidestepped the snakelike creature, wheeled around as it skidded past, and shoved its head into the wall. It fell to the obsidian floor with a soft thump.

He eyed the thing, hoping he hadn’t killed it. Not that he minded killing—it’s just that he preferred to get paid for it.

And speaking of getting paid…

He made his way to the triage desk, where a vampire nurse was futilely yelling at the patients and staff to stop fighting.

“Yo.”

She turned to him with a sigh. “Do you require medical assistance?”

“And if I did?” he asked as he eyed the insanity around him. She gave him an apologetic shrug, and he shook his head. “I need to see Shade or Eidolon.”

“I’m sorry, but we’re a little busy.” She ducked to avoid being brained by a pipe someone had thrown. “I suggest you come back later—” She broke off as some long-clawed thing as large as Lore hit her across the face.

Lore leaped over the desk and wrenched the demon’s head around. There was a satisfying crack, a twitch, and the thing slumped, dead, to the floor.

Satisfaction had been his payment for that one. He glanced at the nurse, who was holding her bleeding cheek. “You okay?”

“I’ll live. Thank you.” She looked down at the dead demon. “I quit.” She stalked off in a huff.

Well, hell. He stood there, wondering if he should search for the two brothers or not. He’d heard that Wraith was off trying to save his life, but Lore knew damned good and well there was no cure for the poison his partner had dosed Wraith with. The guy was as good as dead.