“Fuck off.”
“Shade.” Lore swallowed, knowing this was crazy and that it might not work because he didn’t know how Kynan had died, but he had to try. “I might be able to help.” He kept his voice low, not wanting to give any false hope.
Shade turned, slowly, eyes bloodshot and narrowed. “If this is a trick, know that I have no problem killing a sibling.”
Lore gave a single nod, and Shade crouched, released the chains holding him.
With Shade on his heels, he moved to Gem and Kynan. She was draped over him, her face buried in his throat.
Drawing a deep breath, Lore crouched at Kynan’s feet. He grasped the human’s still-warm ankle. He concentrated, let his “gift” work its way down his shoulder to his fingers, until his markings glowed. A wave of energy spread up the human’s leg, into his torso, his chest, his extremities.
The heart sparked. But the body was drained of blood, and it took several precious minutes for his marrow to start churning, creating new blood to fill his veins.
Gem turned to Lore, her eyes nearly swollen shut, but possessive anger shone through her misery. “Get away from him!”
Shade knelt next to her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and went back to sobbing.
There. The heart beat. Once. Twice. It shuddered as though unsure what to do next… and then it started up in a strong, steady beat. Kynan’s chest rose, and his lips parted as he took in a giant, choking breath.
“Kynan?” Gem scrambled off him. “Kynan?”
“Yeah,” he rasped. “Fuck. Yeah.”
Gem shrieked with joy and threw herself around him. Lore stood and backed away. A hand came down on his shoulder. Shade’s.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” Lore said. “Really.”
Fuck, that was a stupid thing to do. Lore rubbed his hand across his chest, over the hand-shaped scar over his heart. These guys might have the answer to who he was, but really, did it matter? He could pretend to be his own man, could pretend to be a free agent. But the truth was that he was on a short leash connected to the fist of a demon who could—and did—call him to service at any time, on short notice, and for truly vile jobs.
He’d feel the life Lore brought back, and there would be punishment. On top of the punishment for not fulfilling the contract to kill the brothers. If there was one thing Detharu couldn’t abide, it was reneging on a vow.
That, and being cheated out of his cut of the death money.
So Lore was in for a shitload of pain.
Good thing, then, that he liked it.
Twenty-nine
Wraith ignored the Guardians who gawked at the state of his clothes, at the blood dripping off him, and yeah, maybe at the sight of the little piece of Heaven in his hand. Only Val wasn’t staring. He was sitting quietly in a chair next to Serena’s bed, head bowed, holding her hand.
Relief that Kynan was alive was tempered by the fact that Serena lay deathly still on the bed, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Shade gripped her wrist and channeled some of his gift into her.
“She’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m just keeping her asleep to slow down the…” He didn’t need to finish.
“Well, demon?” asked the Elder named Juan.
“Yeah, yeah. I got your precious amulet.” Wraith let the necklace slide through his fingers, totally getting off on how everyone—everyone except Val—was on their toes, holding their breath, waiting to see what he’d do.
“You need to hand that thing over, demon.” This from the one female Elder, Regan.
“To you?”
“Yes.” She held out her hand. “The Aegis is the best qualified to keep it—”
Wraith laughed. “Seriously, you people are so full of yourselves.” He stepped forward. “I’ll give it to Tayla then.”
“No!” Juan looked like he was going to stroke out. “She’s… she’s…”
“Half demon?” Wraith offered. “But she is a Guardian, and aren’t they the best qualified to keep it?”
Serena’s rattling breath reminded him that he needed to stop fucking around. Remembering what Reaver had said, he crouched next to the only human in the room besides Serena who was worthy of breathing the Earth’s air.
Kynan was still sitting on the floor, sweat beaded on his pallid skin, being held up, as far as Wraith could tell, by Gem.
Kynan tensed. “Wraith, no—”
Wraith looped the chain around Kynan’s neck and stood. “It’s yours, man. The fate of all humankind is in your hands.” He winked. “No pressure.”
While the humans gaped at Kynan, Wraith caught Lore by the shoulders. “You. You can bring back the dead?”
The guy watched him calmly. “Sometimes.”
Wraith shoved him into the wall. “No half answers. I want to know that if something happens to her—” he pointed to Serena “—you can fix her.”
Lore’s gaze was flat and black. “What’s killing her?”
“Demon infection.”