“Finish that sentence,” Josh said flatly, “and it’ll be your last.”
Val turned purple with rage. For a moment, she thought he’d blow, but David laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Let it go, Dad.”
Shade moved fully inside to stand near Josh, and suddenly the room filled with people. Total strangers. And here she was, wearing nothing but a tank top and in a bed where it was pretty obvious she’d just had sex. With a demon.
“Everyone needs to just calm down.” Eidolon crossed to Josh and Shade.
“Fuck you,” David said. “We don’t take orders from demons.”
Josh bared his fangs. “Yeah, you do. Because right now, I’m your best hope to defeat Byzamoth. So if you don’t want to spend eternity bent over and holding your ankles for him, you’ll back the fuck off.”
Ky, Gem, Tay, Shade, and E all crammed into the bedroom, followed by six local Aegis Guardians and six members of the Sigil. Luc, Reaver, and several local Aegi made for a tense party in the other rooms of the house, and there were more agents patrolling outside
And that asshole Lore was tied up in the hall. What the hell was up with that? Ky had no idea.
Kynan’s hand hovered over his stang, fingers itching to draw down. The house was filled to the gills with mortal enemies, and the Guardians were loaded for werebear.
Powder. Keg. One spark and the place would blow.
Val reached for Serena, his Sigil ring glinting in the light from the overhead. “I’m taking you home.”
And… that was the spark.
A god-awful roar vibrated the house. Wraith moved so fast Ky didn’t track him until he followed the nasty growl to the bed, where Wraith was on all fours, crouched protectively over Serena.
Christ, his eyes burned the orange-gold of a jet’s afterburners and his fangs had elongated into daggers. With his blond mane falling around his face, he looked like a fucking lion guarding his pride.
The familiar, ominous sound of weapons clearing their housings cut through the tension. The Guardians and Elders closed ranks at the same moment that E, Shade, and Gem stepped in front of the bed to stand with Wraith.
In a coordinated move that reminded Ky of how well he and Tay had fought together in the past, they placed themselves between the demons and the Guardians.
“I am taking Serena home, where she belongs,” Val repeated, his Romanian accent so thick Kynan barely understood him.
Wraith’s voice scraped gravel. “If you touch her, I’ll drop all your buddies, and then I’ll take you apart, piece by piece.”
“You,” Val bellowed, “have no say in this. She’s dying because of you!”
The Guardians shifted, bracing for battle, and Wraith’s eyes went crimson. This was going to end very, very badly.
“Shade,” Ky said quietly, “bring Wraith down.” He turned to Val, whose dark gaze promised as much blood as Wraith’s. “You’d best back off. We need him to get the amulet from Byzamoth. And you know you can’t hurt him. Trying would be suicide.” Suicide, even if Wraith wasn’t in possession of the charm.
Serena placed a restraining hand on Wraith’s, and though he still looked like he was mentally fitting Val for a coffin, he’d stopped growling.
“Val, please,” she said calmly, as if she didn’t have over two hundred pounds of enraged demon vampire crouched over her. “The most important thing here is to stop Byzamoth. We all need to work together.”
“We agreed to work with the charmed one,” David said, “but we didn’t know he was a demon. We’re not working with them. No way.”
“Then lube up and prepare to call Byzamoth daddy,” Wraith said, not helping the situation at all.
One of the Elders, Juan, cleared his throat. “Kynan. Tayla. As Regent and former Regent, surely you recognize the problems inherent in Guardians working with demons?”
“I know firsthand.” Tayla morphed into her hybrid Soulshredder form, her veiny wings scraping the wall. Gasps filled the air. “Because I’m half demon.” She shifted back, rolled her shoulders. “Don’t make me do that again. It stings and makes me very cranky.”
David turned on her, his glower twisting his handsome face into something hideous. “You traitorous—”
“Be very careful what you say, human.” Eidolon’s eyes had gone as red as Wraith’s, and he now looked every inch the demon he was.
A long, tense silence had Kynan twitching. Finally, Val turned to him, though he shot wary glances at Tayla. “Did you know about her? Did you know she was a demon when you recommended her for the Regent position?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus, Kynan. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking,” Kynan said, “that she’s a warrior with damned good instincts. She can think on her feet. She knows the difference between good demons and bad ones—”
“There are no good demons,” Val bit out.