Desire Unchained

“E?” Shade dragged his lids open as far as they’d go, which wasn’t much. He peeked through slits at Eidolon, who was unbuckling the straps holding him down. Shade looked up at the chains and pulleys hanging from the dark ceiling, and felt a rush of relief. UG. He’d made it to the hospital.

Wait—why didn’t he remember anything, and why had he been restrained? How long had he been here? Where was … Runa!

Panic flared, but dimmed when he sensed her life force through the bond, sensed that she was safe, if angry, in beast form.

“What happened?” he asked, and shit, his throat was sore. He felt like he’d swallowed a spiny hellrat. Whole. And backward.

“Ah, well, looks like you got yourself mated.”

One hand came free, and he reached up to rub the telltale ring around his throat. “Wasn’t intentional.” When E’s brows rose, Shade shook his head. “I’ll explain later. Why am I strapped down?”

“You aren’t. All done.” Eidolon helped Shade sit up and offered him a cup of water, which he refused.

“You gonna tell me what happened?” And why was he naked? Even his necklace was missing. Man, he was sick of waking up in strange places with no idea how he got there. Someone had laid a set of scrubs on the chair beside the bed, so he dressed while his brother ignored the question. “E? You’re freaking me out.”

“What do you remember?”

“Not much,” he said shakily. “I remember chaining Runa up.” Right after that, he’d hiked a few miles to his mother’s cave, something he did out of respect, making sure no other demons had set up shop, but that was a secret he kept to himself. “I entered a Harrowgate, and … and that’s all I remember.” He swore. “How long have I been here? She’s probably starving. I need to get food to her.”

“Runa’s your mate?” At Shade’s hesitant nod, E asked, “Werewolf?”

“How’d you know?” Sure, the fact that Shade had locked her away on the night of a full moon was a dead giveaway, but the way E was hedging, not meeting his gaze … it wasn’t like his brother. Something was seriously wrong.

“Last night, you stumbled into the ER. Do you remember that?”

“Vaguely, now that you mention it.” He struggled to put together the fragments of memories floating around in his head, like the one of him stepping out of the gate and into the reddish light that allowed for day-dwellers to see inside the hospital as well as those who lived in the dark … but after that, the image broke apart like smoke in the wind. “It’s pretty much all a blank.”

“That’s because the moment you exited the Harrowgate, you turned into a warg.”

Shade froze as he tied the drawstrings on his pants. “That’s a joke, right?” When E didn’t crack a smile, Shade inhaled sharply. “E, come on. We’re immune to the lycanthropic infection.”

“I’ll be sure to remind you of that tonight when you’re doing tricks for Milk Bones.”

Shade couldn’t swallow. Could barely breathe. Seminus demons were not prone to “turning.” The only way his species could become part of another species was to be born to it. Like Wraith, who was a full-blooded Seminus but also a vampire. Under the right circumstances, had Shade been born to a werewolf, he’d be a pure-blooded Seminus who would crave Kibbles and Bits three nights out of the month. But you couldn’t turn into a vamp or a warg.

“Tell me what happened, Shade. Where have you been for the last couple of days?”

Shade sank down onto his bed before his knees gave out. “Hell, E. I was in hell.”

A long silence dragged out. The familiar, muted blips of hospital equipment had nearly calmed him when E finally spoke. “You said your mate is chained. Where?”

“My place.”

E nodded, knowing exactly which place. “That’s why you changed so suddenly. The time difference between Central America and New York. All it took was stepping out of the Harrowgate. You completely missed the transition period.”

Yeah, Shade had seen a were or two shift from human to beast and vice versa, so he knew they didn’t just poof into shape. Apparently, he had. He must have been one pissed-off puppy once his shift was complete.

“Did I hurt anyone?”

“There were a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious.”

“Bro!” Wraith strode into the room and yanked Shade into a bear hug.

“Someone was a little worried about you,” Eidolon drawled as Wraith released Shade.

“Like you weren’t.” Wraith punched E in the shoulder and turned back to Shade. “Now, big bro, you have some explaining to do. Starting with what the fuck you were thinking getting yourself bonded.”

Shade shook his head. Which felt like it had been whacked with a baseball bat. “Trust me, that’s not where I need to start.”