Desire Unchained

“Hell, yeah, I shot them. Disarmed a punk and took out as many as I could before I hoofed it to the closest Harrowgate.”


The dermoire on Eidolon’s arm began to shimmer as he channeled healing energy into Wraith. Before Kynan’s eyes, Wraith’s lacerations began to knit together. Wraith groaned, baring his teeth. His fangs elongated, and Kynan could practically feel them throbbing. The healing process could be painful—Kynan had endured the pain a couple of months ago after being bitten by a Cruentus demon during an ambulance run.

Ciska returned with the blood and handed it to Wraith, who bit into the bag.

“That’s disgusting,” Kynan muttered.

Wraith cocked an eyebrow. “You volunteering to play Big Gulp?”

“You wish.”

Wraith snorted, but before he could spew some smartass remark, E nodded in satisfaction. “Done. Now for the bullet wound.” He glanced at Ky. “We’ll need a local for this.”

“I’m fine,” Wraith said.

“This is going to hurt like hell, bro. Ky, get the shot.”

“I said, I’m fine.” Wraith’s voice was a low growl that vibrated the air in the room.

Eidolon got right up in his brother’s face, his eyes gold—which meant he was either aroused or pissed, and since Tayla wasn’t around …

“We’re not doing this tonight, Wraith. You got the fighting out of your system. Sex probably, too. And, I see, a little chemical assistance. It’s time to chill out.”

“No. Local. Anesthetic.”

Narrow pinpoints of red began to poke through the gold in E’s eyes as his anger hit the next stage of pissed. This was going to deteriorate into a critical situation, and fast.

“Get the shot, man,” Shade said from the opening in the curtains, a new dermoire around his throat and a new female at his side. His mate?

Kynan couldn’t be sure. She wore jeans and a short-sleeved silk blouse that revealed toned arms that were unmarked by the mate-dermoire Tayla had.

Wraith’s eyes flashed ice—he’d obviously noticed the same thing. At least it took his focus off the issue of the injection.

“Get the shot,” Shade repeated, his voice low and soothing. “If E says you need it, you do.”

Wraith scowled, but if he was going to listen to anyone, it would be Shade. “Fine. Yeah. Whatever. Gimme the shot, human.” As Ky brought the needle near the wound, Wraith grabbed his wrist. “Make it hurt.”

“It’ll make my day.”

In the silence that fell, Kynan could hear Wraith’s low, steady growl as he stared at the new female as if she was an enemy. Shade had picked up on Wraith’s animosity, and the two brothers locked gazes. This was bad, though Kynan had no idea why or what the hell was going on. But a break in the tension would be a good idea right about now.

He knew he shouldn’t do it, but as he injected the local, he said, “Hey, Wraith. I have a new X-Box game. Really violent. I plan to get seriously fucked up and play tonight. Want to try to kick my ass?”

Wraith’s head swung around. “Why are you asking me?”

“Because you’re always beating the hell out of me in the gym, and I want a chance to take you down.”

Wraith’s eyes narrowed, as if he knew this was a trick, but he couldn’t resist the bait. “I do knock you around, don’t I?”

That was a no-shitter. Kynan had been training with Wraith for months, learning new fighting techniques and honing the old ones, but he’d never acquire even a tenth of the skills Wraith had mastered.

“I’ll kick your ass in the game, too,” Wraith said, not so much as flinching as Ky pulled the needle out of his flesh.

“You don’t stand a chance.”

Wraith snorted. “I’m so going to grind you into dust.”

Eidolon offered Ky a subtle nod, a silent thank-you for defusing an explosive situation. Ky returned the nod and made the mistake of glancing over at Gem. He might have snuffed the fuse from one stick of dynamite, but it was clear by the glint in her eyes that the thing between him and Gem still burned.





Ten





Shade didn’t wait around in the ER to answer questions or listen to lectures about Runa. He took her to the lab, plunked her into a chair, and gave the technician, Frank, one of the few humans on staff, orders to take enough blood to run every test available.

Then he waited just outside the door where he could see what was going on, because no way was that man going to touch Runa without Shade’s being present. He’d have preferred to draw the blood himself, but he knew his brothers would be showing up at any moment to ask questions he didn’t know how to answer.

He watched Runa through the window, inexplicably pleased to see that she was looking around the lab with curiosity, not terror, as he might have expected from someone who had never been inside a demon hospital. Then again, she knew he was right outside the door, and he’d assured her that nothing bad would happen to her as long as he was near.