Ecstasy Unveiled

She laughed bitterly. “No, but it’s still fucked up. Apparently, only you purebreds get the cool stuff.”


“Apparently.” He waited for her to answer his question, but she didn’t, and he gnashed his teeth. “So… your ability? What is it?”

“I can cause disease at a touch.”

“Disease?” he repeated, just to make sure he heard correctly.

“D-I-S-E-A-S-E. Disease. You should have learned all about them in one of your internet classes.”

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. “What kind of disease?”

Turning away, she rubbed her injury again. “It’s different in everyone. It’s like I send a spark into someone, and the spark searches out the most horrible, personalized disease it can find to kill that individual.”

Gods, Lore and Sin couldn’t be more the opposite of Eidolon in terms of abilities. He healed; they killed. “And you do this, why?”

She rounded on him, jabbed her finger in his chest. “Don’t you judge me, asshole. You’re not exactly an angel, either. I do what I have to do. And if it makes your highly educated, superior self feel any better, I do it quickly. The werewolf was an accident.”

“What werewolf?”

She jerked. “It’s nothing. I have to go.” Sin shoved at him, but he seized her arm and hauled her up so she was on her toes, off-balance, and couldn’t possibly mistake how through with her games he was.

“The warg that came in,” he growled. “His death was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“Fuck off.”

“Sin, dammit, answer me!”

“Yes, okay?” Her black eyes glinted with flecks of gold, a Seminus trait that couldn’t be faked, and every last drop of doubt left him in a rush. “You happy now?”

“Not really,” he muttered, releasing her. Gods, his mind was still having trouble processing all of this. Lore’s existence had been unexpected, but a sister? A brother with a human mother was fucked up enough, but Eidolon couldn’t even begin to imagine what could go wrong with a Seminus female. “I was hoping to help Lore deal with his gift… maybe I can help you with yours.”

She laughed and put a few steps between them. “Help? Yeah, okay. If you really want to help you’ll chop off the warg’s head and bring it to me in a bag. That would be a big help.”

He let out a disgusted breath. “You need proof of his death.”

“There goes the brain surgeon again.”

“You’re not getting his head,” he said tightly. “I won’t let you desecrate his body.”

“You have to!” Panic snuffed out the gold flecks in her eyes. “I need proof.”

“Or what?” When she said nothing, he repeated himself, his voice cracking in the still air. “Or what?”

“Or I’m going to be sold to Neethul slave traders.”

Eidolon inhaled sharply. As far as punishments went, it didn’t get much worse.

“Hey!” Sin jabbed him in the biceps. “You stroking out or something? You’re pale. And you’re not being all superior. Something’s wrong.”

Oh, she was a riot. “Will anything other than his head be acceptable?”

“Sometimes a unique identifying feature will work, but you need a damned good reason for not having the head.”

“Would your employer accept my word as a Justice Dealer and physician?” Granted, he was no longer an enforcer of demon law, but he had powerful connections and a fucking great game face.

She leveled a look of disbelief at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I can make it look official. I’ll include an autopsy report and a photo.”

“I guess that’s not a horrible idea.” She slid him a puppy-dog look with a side of pout and batting eyelashes that must come standard on every sister, because Omira, the Judicia sister he’d grown up with, used to try the same thing. “You sure I can’t have his head? Pretty please? It’s not like he needs it.”

“I’m sure. Come back tomorrow for the report.” He paused. “About Lore…”

Sin froze as she reached for the door handle. “What?”

He told her about Lore and Idess, and everything that had gone down, though he left out the details about Kynan’s Sentinel status.

“So this chick is protecting Kynan? Why?”

“I don’t know,” he lied.

Sin erupted with a creative flow of curses, and when she was finished, she asked, “What does she look like?” Sin asked.

“Like she’d look good on a mattress.”

Sin jammed her fists on her hips. “That tells me nothing, and aren’t you mated?”

“I’m also a male sex demon. I didn’t go blind when I took a mate.” He had, however, lost all desire to so much as touch another female. He only wanted Tayla. Wanted her constantly, and even now heat began to kindle at the mere thought of her. “Long, dark brown hair she keeps in a ponytail, light brown eyes. Tall. Right ear is pierced at the top.”

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