Kynan smirked. “You just got a taste of Wraith’s mind-fuck.”
Ah. Lore hadn’t expected Wraith’s gift for getting inside heads to be so intrusive and unsettling. “You dick.”
“Seriously?” Wraith asked. “That’s all you got? Dick? Idiot? Your sister pops better insults than you do.”
“She’s your sister, too,” Lore pointed out, more to gauge Wraith’s reaction than anything.
Wraith grinned. “E says she’s like a female version of me. Cool.”
“No, not cool,” Lore growled. “So now you know I didn’t snatch the kid, you’re going to haul ass out of my face, right?”
“Slow down there, Mario,” Wraith said. “You’re still planning to kill Kynan.”
Idess crossed to Lore. “No, he’s not.”
Inside Lore’s chest, something shriveled a little at her defense of him, because he would still do what he had to in order to save his sister. Yes, Idess would lose her wings and have to stay on earth. But she wouldn’t die. And… she’d be able to stay with him.
“I was in Lore’s head, Halo. I know what he was thinking.” Wraith’s eyes went wide with sudden knowledge. “Sin will die if you don’t. Ah, fuck.”
Kynan scowled at Wraith. “Are you serious?”
Lore nodded. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to kill you for shits and grins? Not that it wouldn’t be fun,” he added.
Kynan snorted. “Do you think it’s this Rariel guy who wants me dead?”
“Him… and Roag.”
“Yeah,” Wraith said. “E mentioned that. Shade thinks you’re working together.”
“Just when I thought Shade couldn’t think any worse of me,” Lore muttered.
“We’ve got to find Rariel,” Kynan said, fucking king of State the Obvious.
A cell phone buzzed, and Wraith dug into his pocket. “’Sup, E?” Wraith listened for a second, and hung up with a strained curse. “We gotta go, Ky. It’s Gem.”
Kynan lost all the color in his face. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
Baby?
“She was attacked,” Wraith said. “She was attacked inside the hospital.”
Twenty-one
Idess flashed Lore to UG’s parking lot. They ran inside, where at least two dozen spirits were in a frenzy, attacking the walls, wailing, and cowering in corners. Eidolon was standing at the triage desk, and the second he saw Lore, his eyes went crimson and he made like a charging tiger.
“No!” Idess rushed forward and slammed her palms into his chest. “Lore didn’t attack Shade’s mate, and he doesn’t have the baby. Wraith will be here in a moment. He’ll confirm it.”
Speak of the demon, the Harrowgate shimmered, and Wraith darted out of it, right behind Kynan. Kynan, as a human, shouldn’t have been able to travel through the Harrowgates unless he was unconscious, but his charmed status protected him from certain death.
“What happened? Where’s Gem?”
“Exam one,” Eidolon said. “She was found unconscious and bleeding from a head wound in the staff lounge.”
“Did the Haven spell go down?” Wraith asked.
“Nope.”
Idess sucked in a breath. “It was the ghosts.”
“Mother. Fuck.” Wraith snarled. “This is the one place that should be safe from the sonofabitch who attacked Runa, and we have fucking ghosts to worry about. Are Serena and Stewie still here?”
Eidolon nodded. “They’re with Tay in my office.”
“I’m taking them home. Not letting them out of my sight.” He jerked his thumb at Lore. “Big bro here wasn’t responsible for Runa and Rade. Some asswipe named Rariel is.”
Eidolon let out a long breath. “You’ll need to tell Shade. He won’t listen to me.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s at the cave with Runa and the boys. It’s too risky to have them here when we have diseased wargs coming in.”
Diseased wargs?
“He should be safe then. I’m outta here.” Wraith took off down the hall at a jog, running right through one of the spirits, who cried out loud enough for Idess to wince.
Eidolon scrubbed a hand over his face and turned to Lore. “Where have you been?”
“Oh, hey, don’t worry about apologizing for thinking I attacked my sister-in-law and stole my nephew or anything.”
A muscle in Eidolon’s jaw twitched, and Idess had a feeling he was trying to keep his temper in check.
“Your dagger was buried in her gut, and the message given to her was to turn over Kynan. What were we supposed to think? You are trying to kill the guy. For money.”
“For his sister,” Idess said tightly. She was tired of these guys’ blaming Lore, hating him, fighting him. “Sin will die if Lore doesn’t do it.”
“Fuck.” Eidolon’s dark eyes, so like Lore’s, cut to his brother. “How do you plan to get out of it?” The doctor’s voice was cool, professional, and just flat enough to give away how hard he was trying to hide his concern for his siblings’ situations.
“We need to find Rariel. He’s got to be behind the contract. Kill him, and the contract is void.”