“Shade, I need you to take the infant.”
Surprise flickered in his brother’s dark eyes. This was only the second Seminus born at UG. The first, over ten years ago, had possessed the markings of one of the Seminus Council members, and the mother had wanted the infant. Eidolon had a feeling the Suresh would not. At least, she wouldn’t want to raise it. Eat it, maybe. Kill it, definitely.
“Where is it?” The female writhed on the table, trying to see her child.
Shade wrapped the squalling infant in a blanket and brought it around.
“That?” she roared. “That is what grew inside me? That parasite?” She snarled and swiped for it, but Shade stepped out of the way. The writing on the walls pulsed violently, and she yelped at the activation of the Haven spell. She held her head and panted through the pain, but she never stopped glaring at the baby. “Give it to me. I will take it outside and crush it.”
A low growl emanated from deep in Shade’s throat. “We will dispose of the infant.” He stalked off before the female could argue, but she cursed in a dozen different languages as Eidolon completed post-birth procedures.
When he was done, he found Shade with the baby in the nursery. He didn’t look up as Eidolon entered. “Congratulations, bro. You’re an uncle again.”
“What did you say?”
Shade fastened a diaper like a pro and turned to him, keeping one hand protectively on the baby’s belly. Shade had always been good with the young of any species, had practiced a lot with his sisters, but since becoming a father, he had developed an even stronger paternal instinct.
“This is Wraith’s offspring,” he said, and Eidolon missed a step as he approached the changing table.
“Interesting.” Eidolon ran his finger over the infant’s dermoire, pausing over the top mark, an hourglass at the base of his neck, the one that identified the father as Wraith.
“I’ve already called Runa. We’ll raise it as our own.”
“You plan to tell Wraith? Because for all his faults, he can count, and eventually he’ll figure out that you have four babies instead of three.”
Shade bundled the squirming infant in a blanket. “Yeah, he needs to know. And he should be the one to name it.”
Eidolon shook his head. “This is weird.”
Shade lifted the infant gently into his arms. “It’s never going to end, is it?” His gaze locked with Eidolon’s. “We’re never going to be done cleaning up Wraith’s messes.”
“He’s doing what our breed does after s’genesis.”
“I’m not talking about populating the world with Seminus young.”
“I know.” Wraith had always been a troublemaker, and at one point, he’d nearly started a war between their species and vampires. Wreaking havoc was what he did best. “And it’s going to be even worse once he gets that charm.”
Shade looked down at the newborn. “Sometimes I think the only thing that keeps Wraith going is the idea that, eventually, someone or something is going to kill him. If he gets the charm, he won’t have that anymore. I don’t want to see him lose his mind like our father did. Like Roag did.”
“Like I almost did,” Eidolon said quietly. If not for Tayla, he’d have turned into a beast his brothers would have been forced to put down.
“We can’t give up hope.” Shade made some cooing noises at the baby and then looked up. “Wraith is full of surprises.”
“Yeah, but they usually aren’t good ones.” Eidolon rubbed the bridge of his nose as his persistent headache worsened. “Hey, you feeling any better?”
“I wish,” Shade said. “This morning my gut cramped so hard I think my spine cracked.”
“Are Runa and the kids okay?”
“They’re great. In fact, I haven’t seen anyone else who’s sick. Maybe this is a breed-specific bug?”
“Maybe.” But something about that wasn’t sitting right. Namely, they hadn’t been in contact with any other Sems. Wraith was getting worse, but that was because of the poison… “Oh… oh, fuck.”
“What?”
“I need to check on something. I’ll page you when I get a definitive answer.”
“E—”
Eidolon ignored Shade and jogged toward his office. He had a sinking feeling this wasn’t a bug. This was a cancer.
Twelve
Wraith spent a fitful night after Serena left his cabin. He’d been aroused to the point of pain, requiring an injection of Eidolon’s anti-libido drug, but that had only been a minor part of Wraith’s sleeplessness.
He hadn’t been able to get Serena out of his mind. Her voice, her scent, the sounds she made when she came. Gods, the feel of her slick honey on his fingers… he’d wanted to taste her and then bury himself so deep inside her she’d feel him there for weeks.