Hangovers sucked.
Lore couldn’t remember the last time he’d had one. He healed fast, which meant he rarely got them unless he’d overdone the drinking to the point of near-death. But he always remembered his binges, and as he peeled his eyes open he found that he had absolutely no memory of slamming shots or downing beers.
He jerked as one memory pierced his brain like a dull needle. Idess. Sin. Shit! With a panicked shout, he levered into a sit. He was at the hospital. But where—
“Hey.”
He snapped his head around to Idess, who was standing at his bedside, looking as if she hadn’t had a Gargantua-bone dagger impaled in her shoulder. “You’re okay.” His relief didn’t even seem strange. They should be enemies, but something had changed, and unlike Sin, he knew when to stop fighting and roll with it.
“I’m fine. And you are, too. But it was close.”
He swallowed, remembering the blade that had lodged in his throat. “Sin?”
“Eidolon won’t allow her inside. I’m only allowed in because he thinks I’ll behave.” She smiled, but it was forced. Something was wrong. And when he lifted his hand and discovered he was secured to the bed, he knew what it was.
“Eidolon intends to keep me from going after Kynan, doesn’t he?” From one set of chains into another. Unbelievable. “And that’s why Sin can’t see me, isn’t it? He’s afraid she’ll free me.”
“Yes,” she said. “I think he’s right to be concerned.”
“Sin can be a handful,” Lore muttered.
Idess raised a delicate eyebrow. “That’s one way to put it.”
Lore reached for her, only to be jerked short by the chain. “I’m sorry, angel.” He blinked. Had he just used “angel” as a term of endearment and not a snarky insult? He blinked again. Yes. Yes, he had. Huh. “I shouldn’t have left you alone in the bedroom. I didn’t think—”
She shut him up with a kiss. It was just a peck, but it was enough to derail his thoughts and wreck his emotions. His sister had nearly killed her, but here she was, smiling warmly and kissing him and being just way too good to be true.
“Took a page from your book,” she said, as she straightened. “It’s an interesting maneuver, kissing someone to shut them up or calm them down.” She paused. “I think I like it.”
A weird possessive instinct made his gut burn, and he wanted to tell her not to use that particular trick with anyone else. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at her. “Something’s off here. Sin wouldn’t stand for being shut out. She’d have found a way in here.”
“She’s not raising a stink… because I swore to release you myself.”
All kinds of red flags went up. “Why? So you can take me home and chain me to your bed again?”
She flushed, and damn it, he felt things below his waist start to stir because as much as it bit dick to be chained up, there were worse things than being chained to Idess’s bed. Better her bed than a hospital one.
“Not unless you force me to.”
“So you’re saying you’re just going to let me run around loose? Aren’t you worried about your precious Kynan?”
“I am,” she admitted. “But this hospital is a very dangerous place for you to be.”
“Ah… it’s a hospital.”
“Full of brothers who want you dead.”
Okay, so he knew they wouldn’t be happy with his plan to kill their buddy, but dead? “If that were true, why did they save me?”
“Eidolon is the one who wants to keep you alive. He thinks that if you’re contained, the other two will be placated enough to not kill you.”
“But you don’t believe that?”
She let out a long breath, as though dragging it out would put off whatever she was clearly reluctant to say. “I saw murder in Shade’s eyes.”
“I can handle Shade,” he said. “But why are you willing to take a chance on releasing me?”
“Because I think it’s time we started working together. Started trusting each other.”
He laughed, but quickly sobered. “Good God, you’re serious.”
She nodded. “I have to protect Kynan, but I also have to protect you. It’s clear that someone is trying to mess with my Primori. You and your sister are the keys. You help me get to the bottom of it, Kynan lives, and your brothers won’t be a threat to you anymore. We’re all winners.”
Sure, it made sense to combine resources, but it also shoved them together when the last thing he needed was to be distracted by her. Because he doubted they’d find the contract holder, which meant he’d have to kill Kynan, and the closer he got to Idess, the harder that would be.
But if her plan worked, big if, Idess would earn her wings and Sin would live. And so would Kynan, the rat bastard.
“Okay, so what do you need from me, right this minute, to get these shackles off?”