Desire Unchained

Like hell he would. The Judicia would get to the bottom of the matter, but he couldn’t afford to be locked away until he was found innocent. Not with Roag gunning for Runa. He would not leave his mate unprotected.

He smiled. “Of course. Give me a moment to say good-bye.” Before the Carcers could refuse, he turned to Runa, who was looking at him with a mix of confusion and residual anger. Anger he could feel in the taut stiffness of her body. “You’re going to run,” he whispered against her ear. “Head for the Harrowgate. I’ll be right behind you. If I don’t join you within two minutes, either find Eidolon or use the gate to get to the hospital. Understood?”

“No, I don’t understand.”

“Just do it—” A hand closed on his arm—the Nightlash. Shade struck, a closed fist to its ugly face. “Run, Runa!”

Naturally, Runa did the opposite. She attacked the Seminus, catching him by surprise as he tried to assist the Nightlash. Shade had forgotten how well she fought, but he didn’t have time to admire her moves. He’d trained with Wraith for decades, but the Nightlash was bigger and stronger, and it took precious moments to gain the upper hand.

Shade took a quick double-tap to the abdomen, and then he dropped, spun, and with a sweep of his legs, caught the Nightlash in the knees.

The demon hit the ground and rolled into a ditch. Leaping to his feet, Shade jammed the heel of his hand in the Seminus’s nose. As the demon wheeled backward, clutching his face, Shade grabbed Runa’s hand, and they hauled ass to the Harrowgate. Once there, they dived inside, and he tapped the map to take them to Costa Rica.

They stepped out, and hit the ground running. Once they reached his cave, he shoved Runa inside.

“Shit,” he growled, as the stone door slid into place. “I am so fucked.” And naked. Which normally went well together, but he figured Runa wouldn’t appreciate the association. Besides, he needed to cover up the parts of his body that were fading out. He headed for the bedroom, Runa on his heels.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

He tossed her a robe. “Which part?”

“All of it,” she said, shrugging into the garment. “But right now I’m wondering if they can find us.”

“They have ways of tracking us through the Harrowgate.” He tugged on a pair of jeans. “Once they exit the gate, locating my lair won’t be easy. Even if they manage, getting inside will be difficult. But hiding out here is our best option, and Roag doesn’t know about this place, so he can’t tip them off.”

“Who were they? Some sort of demon cops?”

“Something like that.” He tore through his closet, searching for a sweatshirt and gloves.

“And the Judicia?”

Dammit. Where the hell were all his riding gloves?

“Shade? The Judicia?”

He swore and stalked to his dresser. No gloves. “They’re demons that mete out justice. Eidolon served as a Justice demon for a time, so I know what to expect. They’ll get it figured out, but I can’t afford to spend time in a cell while I wait.”

She frowned. “Without … um … me, wouldn’t you suffer in a cell?”

He shook his head. “They’re specially designed to negate species needs. While imprisoned, vampires don’t need to feed, incubi don’t need sex … things like that.” Yep, those logical, level-headed Justice demons thought of everything. “Do you think I did it?”

“What? Kill Luc?” She shook her head. “I know you didn’t. I was within hearing distance of you pretty much the entire time I was at the hospital.”

“It had to have been Roag.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, though nothing was going to stave off the headache that was starting to throb at his temples. “He must have killed him, impersonated him, and ratted me out to Wraith. He’s getting bolder.”

Shade grabbed the satellite phone, stepped outside the cave for decent reception, and rang E’s cell. His brother answered on the second ring.

“Shade?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay? Safe?”

“For now. The Carceris is after me.”

“I know. You didn’t do yourself any favors by running.”

“I couldn’t leave Runa unprotected. Unless you and Wraith happened to nab Roag?”

“The bastard got away. And it looks like he broke into the hospital’s storeroom.”

Shade swore. Roag could have stolen some potentially dangerous materials. “Bro, we have to step up our search for him. And I think you need to get Tay somewhere safe.”

“Already handled. She’ll stay at Aegis HQ. When we need to be together, she’ll come to the hospital, with Kynan as an escort. What’s going on with Runa?”

She’d followed him outside, and though she stood calmly at the cave entrance arms crossed over her chest, there was nothing calm about the flames that burned in her eyes. Still pissed about the whole thing about him killing her, he guessed.

“She’s fine for now.”

“Yeah?” E’s voice lowered to a near-whisper Shade had to strain to hear. “Well, something is going on with you. Wraith’s worried, and I’m having a hard time keeping him contained.”