“That bitch.” Sin’s voice went low and deadly, her body coiled like a predator about to strike, and he suddenly saw the assassin she was. “She attacked me, too. And she had Lore’s Gargantua-bone dagger. I got it back.”
Eidolon blinked at that. Those daggers were rarer than acid sprite mana and just as priceless. “Did it taste her blood?”
Sin’s grin was downright evil. “Yes. Come 3:00 A.M., I’m hunting.”
Eidolon had no doubt Sin would find Idess. He hadn’t known his… sister… for long, but already he knew she’d inherited their family’s single-minded determination. And stubbornness. “Sin, you can’t kill the female when you find her.”
“Oh, I plan to kill her. Like, a lot. After she tells me what she’s done with Lore.”
“She’s an angel. You’ll only get yourself killed.”
“You might be surprised. But what happens when I do find Lore?” she asked quietly. “He’s after your friend. You just going to stand by and let Lore have him? Or will I be rescuing him just so his own brothers can kill him?”
“Nothing is going to happen to him,” Eidolon said, but he doubted she believed him, because he didn’t believe it either.
Warmth surrounded Idess like a blanket. A heady, masculine spice tickled her nose. Wriggling, she burrowed closer to the scent and warmth. After all the years of loneliness and feeling as if she didn’t belong—or deserve to belong anywhere—she finally felt at peace. She must be dreaming… except, she didn’t dream. She had nightmares. Not that she was going to complain. She was going to enjoy this wonderful feeling while she could.
“Idess?” The husky voice floated down to her. “Angel?”
“Mmm.”
“I gotta take a leak.”
She jerked upright, blinking, trying to focus her eyes and her brain. It took several seconds to recognize her bedroom, her bed… her demon that was chained to said bed.
Stunned by the realization that she’d fallen asleep on him, she muttered into her palm, “Oh, I’m… sorry. Are you okay?” Her weight had to have put extra pressure on his shoulders and arms.
“Yeah.” His voice was gruff. Maybe he’d fallen asleep, too. A sudden tenderness in her groin nixed the sleep theory, as arousal pulsed into her through their blood connection. Grr. She knew it had been a mistake to feed from him. “I just gotta take a piss.”
Flustered by the powerful sexual need coursing through her, she scrambled awkwardly off him, wondering how they were going to manage this. Wondering how much longer she could keep him prisoner.
She checked her watch and let out a mild curse.
“What is it?” Lore asked.
“It’s almost 3:00 A.M. in New York, which means that in about fifteen minutes, your girlfriend is probably going to be hunting me down with your Gargantua dagger.”
“You stole it from me?”
He sounded so indignant. “I borrowed it. But she took it.”
“And she knifed you?”
“Please. It was just a scratch.”
The morning sun streaked through the window and fell across his body but cut off abruptly at his neck, leaving his face in shadow. His espresso eyes seemed even darker in the gray wash.
“What do you plan to do?”
A note of jealousy rang through her at the way his voice had gone low and dangerous at the mention of his girlfriend. His fear hit her as well, a psychic blast that gave her a headache.
“Nothing,” she snapped irritably. “I’ll flash around and make her chase me, but I won’t kill her.”
“Why not? She hurt you and killed your Primori. Why not take revenge?”
“I’m an angel. I’m above that kind of selfish pettiness.” Liar.
“So you’re saying you’ve never let your emotions rule your actions? You’ve never done anything shitty to someone in your entire life? Not buying it.” He jerked on his chains, and her heart jerked in response. “What are you going to do to her, Idess?” He tugged on his chains again, more violently, and sparks of gold pierced the coal in his eyes.
His concern rattled her, became her concern. No matter how desperate she was, she would never feed from him again. “Lore—”
“Tell me!”
“I already said I won’t hurt her,” she said, but his doubt screamed in her mind so loudly she wanted to cover her ears. “We try not to mess with Primori lives if we can avoid it.”
His breath caught. “She’s Primori?”
“No, you are,” she blurted stupidly. So stupidly. Primori were never to be told what they were. The idea of being watched didn’t sit well with many of them, and in the past, they’d found ways to hide themselves. She had to get away from Lore. Now, before she said something else that compromised her. Or Kynan. Or the entire universe, with the way she was going. “I’ll be right back.”