Desire Unchained

Awkwardly, because his knees were still weak and his muscles had gelled, Kynan sank into Eidolon’s desk chair. What a mess. So much was bouncing around in his head now—Lori and Gem, his relationships with the hospital, The Aegis, the R-XR. He’d used work and alcohol to avoid confronting any of the issues, but now they were all crashing down on him at once.

One thing was clear; he needed to protect the hospital, and it wasn’t just because he liked Eidolon and his brothers. The things he’d learned here would be invaluable to human medicine—if he could convince Eidolon to share the knowledge. Hell, by Kynan’s calculations, nearly 10 percent of human diseases and illnesses had demonic roots. Human-demon matings, especially, accounted for a staggering number of maladies, as Gem had confirmed with her past work in a human hospital.

And what was up with Arik’s sister being bonded to Shade? He rubbed the back of his neck, groaning as he worked out the kinks. If she’d told Arik that Kynan was working at the hospital, he was screwed. The R-XR would send an entire team after him.

He needed to call Arik.

Once he did that, he’d have one more pressing issue. An issue that kept showing up in his dreams and his nightmares.

Gem.





Surprisingly, Shade didn’t say anything about how Runa had stood up to him. In fact, she got the distinct impression that he’d liked it.

Good. Because he was going to be seeing a lot more of that. She knew she’d always been a bit timid, and hell, she could face it—a doormat. But the whole getting-bitten-by-a-werewolf thing had hardened her a little, and surviving Roag’s dungeon hadn’t hurt. Then there was the fact that Shade had a way of riling her up, and now that she knew how much he needed her …

Shame put some heat in her face as they walked the hospital’s dark halls. That he’d said that females have all the power in a relationship with a Seminus demon didn’t mean she should abuse that power.

“Where are we going again?” She studied the weird drains running along the hallway and wondered what they were for.

“My office. I need to post the new paramedic schedule.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Don’t touch that.”

She jerked her hand away from the gargoyle statue she’d paused in front of. “Why?” It was beautiful … smooth white marble shot through with black and gold veins.

“He bites.”

Shade continued down the hall as she leaped back. She swore one corner of the gargoyle’s mouth tipped up just a bit.

“Your hospital is creepy,” she muttered, as she hurried to catch up.

Creepy, but at least it didn’t smell like human hospitals, with the overpowering odor of disinfectant layered on top of the more subtle, but much more disturbing, stench of disease and death. Just thinking of the smell made her shudder, brought back gut-wrenching memories of her mother, attached to machines as she lay dying. Of her father in the same hospital, years later.

“So, uh … how long have you been a paramedic?” she asked, partly to get her mind off the reasons she hated hospitals, and partly because she was genuinely curious.

“A little over forty years. I go through human paramedic programs every ten years or so to catch up on the latest technology and techniques.”

“That’s dedication.” She scooted behind him to let a monstrous, two-headed thing pass by. “So why did you become a paramedic?”

He sighed, letting her know he was humoring her. “My breed’s gifts are meant to aid in seduction and reproduction, but they can also be used for healing. When my brothers and I started the hospital, I decided I’d rather not spend a ton of time in school to become a doctor.” He shrugged. “Besides, paramedicine allows me to pick up patients and drop them off. I don’t have to hang around and get involved with them like E does.”

“You don’t have to get attached.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

She figured that with Shade, that was the only way to look at it.

They turned a corner, and she nearly ran into an iron cage containing some sort of winged demon. Its cruel, sharp beak and wicked black talons told her more than she wanted to know about its diet. It hissed and flapped one of its wings—the other had been immobilized in a cast.

“What the heck is that thing?” she asked as she carefully skirted the cage.

“It’s sort of the demon equivalent of a vulture.”

“Shouldn’t it be at a demon veterinarian’s or something?”

She watched in awe as he stopped next to the cage and stuck one hand inside to pet its spiky feathers. The thing made a high-pitched chirping sound.

“Yes, but as you can probably guess, demon vets are rare, and most work topside, in human veterinary clinics. Someone brought this creature in, and E won’t turn down anything for care other than a few select species. He even treated a dog Skulk brought in.”

A sad smiled tugged at his mouth. She reached for him, taking his hand in hers. She hoped to comfort him, but he tensed, and with a sigh, she pulled away. “So,” she said, mainly to change the subject, “are most paramedics like you?”

He made some clicking noises at the winged thing, and it rubbed its scaly head on his hand. “What? Antisocial?”