Desire Unchained

Runa careened through the hospital, her eyes stinging. The burn of betrayal swept through her veins like wildfire, searing everything in its path. That son of a bitch! She’d thought he cared, even if he didn’t admit it. For the second time, he’d betrayed her, and she’d let it happen. This time, though, he would take more than her heart.

He’d take her life.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice … I end up dead. She had to get out of this hospital.

Panic made it hard to breathe as she searched for an exit. They were underground, but she knew ambulances somehow drove from the hospital through New York City streets, so there must be a way out. She knew about the Harrowgate in the ER, since that was what they’d been using to come and go, but could she use it? She’d watched Shade operate it … surely she could at least get herself to safety. Somewhere close to the Army base. If Arik could get to her before Shade did, the Army could protect her.

You don’t need her anymore.

Wraith’s words cut through her like a chilled knife. She’d stood there, waiting for Shade to tell his brother to fuck off. He hadn’t. Then Wraith’s next words had stopped her heart cold.

You said you’d kill her.

Oh, God.

She burst into the ER, and when a blue-skinned nurse brought her head around a hundred and eighty degrees to stare at her with blinding white eyes, Runa skidded to a halt. Calm down, she told herself. Calm. She couldn’t afford to attract attention.

Ahead, the Harrowgate shimmered, a curtain of undulating light. She walked toward it with purpose, as if she owned the hospital and knew exactly where she was going.

As she reached the gate, the lab technician who had taken her blood joined her. “You leaving?” Frank asked. “I’m off shift. I’ll share the gate with you.”

“Runa!” Shade’s voice, faint but strong, echoed from down the hall.

Her heart skipped a beat. She had to hurry, and maybe this guy could help her use the gate. “Yes. That would be nice. Thank you.”

They stepped into the arch and were instantly engulfed in eerie darkness. The only light came from the glowing maps on the smooth, black walls. Frank seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move. Her heart pounded as she searched for the crude map of the United States she’d seen Shade manipulate.

“Looking for this?” he asked, tapping an outline she didn’t recognize. Instantly, a map of the States popped up, and he tapped New York.

“No … I wanted—” She snapped her mouth shut. She couldn’t let a hospital staff member know where she was going, to Washington, D.C., and the secret military installation where she worked. “Yes, yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

“New York City … which gate?”

She had no idea. She studied the map, looking for an exit point near her house. There were two. She fingered one, and instantly, the gate opened up into a dark, wooded park. It occurred to her that trotting through a park at night wouldn’t be the brightest thing she’d ever done, but it was probably far safer than being at the hospital where demons wanted to kill her. Besides, she could shift into a werewolf if she ran into trouble. She was definitely safer among even the worst humans than …

Humans. Frank was human.

Humans couldn’t use the Harrowgate.

Which meant that the person standing next to her was not Frank.

Oh, my God. Chills skittered up and down her spine, but she forced herself to remain calm, to take deep, even breaths. She mumbled a polite, “Thank you,” and stepped out of the gate and onto the grass, her knees trembling.

She took one step. And another. Another … so far, so good.

And then, a low, ominous growl sneaked up behind her, growing louder. Swallowing the lump of terror in her throat, she turned.

The demon in the archway was charred, twisted. Evil radiated from it like the devil’s furnace.

Roag.

The scream built in her throat even as he reached for her with his ruined, clawlike hands. “You little bitch. I’m going to skin you alive for what you did to Sheryen.”

She ran. Ran faster than she ever had, stumbling once and nearly going down. A flapping sound reached her ears at the same time as a brush of air, and a winged demon landed with a hard thump in front of her. It grinned, revealing huge, serrated, sharklike teeth. Red eyes drilled hatred directly into her skull.

She didn’t stand a chance against Roag in her current form, but she couldn’t shift—she’d be vulnerable for the few seconds of her transformation. She needed time.

She plowed her fist into the creature’s scaled belly, followed by a brutal kick to its groin. Thanks for the training, Arik.

Roag roared, spitting yellow bile that stung her skin as it landed on her arm and neck. She darted to the right, toward an area of the park she knew well. The foliage was dense, difficult for a demon the size of the winged thing to navigate.