That could have gone better, Kynan thought, as he walked down the hallway of Gem’s apartment building
He scrubbed his hand over his face and tried to tell himself that he wasn’t the world’s biggest bastard.
Liar.
He’d come over here to talk, to be seductive and romantic… and instead he’d treated Gem like she was a sex toy. He’d wanted her, he’d been jealous, and selfishly, he’d acted on impulse.
He turned around and stared at her door, tempted to go back and explain. Apologize. Except she was seriously worked up, and he doubted he’d get far.
He was such an asshole.
Asshole doesn’t cover it, asshole.
Cursing, he spun around and headed for the elevator. He was staying with Eidolon and Tayla, because although he’d prefer a hotel room, Tay had insisted. Besides, staying with them gave all of them an opportunity to catch up and compare notes on the recent happenings on Earth and in Sheoul.
He wondered if Gem knew he was staying with her sister.
Him and his hero complex.
Okay, that was a fair assessment. But his complex wasn’t about accolades or the happy-happy feeling that came from rescuing kittens in trees or parachuting into war zones to save downed soldiers. He didn’t care if anyone knew the good he’d done. He just needed to do it. To make a difference.
Sure, he could make a difference on the streets as a paramedic or a cop. He could re-enlist and make a difference by patching up injured troops. But deep down, he’d always wanted to do things on a grander scale. Which meant saving not a few men, but mankind as a race.
That was a big fucking joke, because he couldn’t save himself, let alone mankind.
He made it to the elevator, punched the Down button, and a moment later the doors slid open. The bastard Gem had been with last night stepped out.
Territorial rage spun up faster than a spring storm, and Kynan moved to block the guy. “Lore, right?”
The male narrowed his dark eyes. “Who are you?”
I’m the man who is going to sever your head from your body, demon.
Kynan reached automatically for the dagger tucked inside his jacket pocket, but fumbled the hilt as Gem’s voice tripped through his head. You gave up the right to be jealous when you dumped me. This wasn’t making love. This was a jealousy fuck.
And wouldn’t killing her lover prove exactly what she’d said.
Though every instinct screamed at him to kill the demon in front of him, he drew his hand away from the weapon. “Who am I?” he asked calmly. “I’m your competition.”
Red rotating lights on the emergency room walls announced the arrival of Underworld General’s only working ambulance. The other had blown an engine this morning. Perfect. On top of the hospital’s woes, Eidolon had been sick with some sort of demon bug, and Shade seemed to have caught it as well
Wincing at his muscle aches, Eidolon donned a paper gown and finished gloving up as Shade and Luc rolled a stretcher laden with two hundred pounds of pregnant Suresh demon into the first trauma room. The female moaned and tossed her head, her black dreads smacking against equipment that threatened to topple.
“No progression of labor since we picked her up,” Shade said. “I can make the womb contract, but there seems to be a blockage.”
“Page Shakvhan.” Normally Eidolon wouldn’t require a female physician to handle a birth, but Sureshi females were notorious male-haters, and they responded much better to the same sex. How they ever managed to get pregnant was a mystery.
“I’ll clean up the rig,” Luc said, and slipped out of the room. The warg was a great paramedic in the field, but once he brought in a patient, he wanted nothing more to do with them.
The Suresh lifted her head and screamed, and blood gushed from between her muscular legs. Shade gripped her hand, his dermoire glowing as he channeled power into her. “It’s coming.”
“Hurts,” she moaned through clenched teeth.
“Guess we’re not waiting for Shakvhan.” Eidolon would have to take his chances with the female and hope she didn’t bite his arm off.
Quickly, he set up a sterile field. Shade assisted with towels as the female pushed, her contractions coming one on top of the other.
“There we go,” Eidolon breathed, as the infant’s head began to crown. It was big. Bigger than it should have been… and smoother. “Shade, contract the uterus.”
Shade moved his hand down the Suresh’s swollen stomach and closed his eyes. The female cried out and bore down.
The infant’s head emerged. Eidolon swore silently. This wasn’t a Sureshi baby, and he had a moment of both dread and joy at his sudden suspicion.
“You’re doing good, female,” he said. “Shade, one more.”
Another contraction rocked her, and the infant slid fully out, covered in blood and birth fluids, but the dermoire on the infant’s right arm confirmed his suspicions. Seminus demon. The mother was not going to be happy.