Shade looked up from checking his cell phone, probably making sure Runa hadn’t tried to contact him. Those two were connected at the hip. If she didn’t force him to go to work, he’d never leave their home. “So was the attack directed at you?”
“Why would it be directed at me?”
Shade rolled his eyes. “Like it’s so out of the realm of possibility that someone would attack you. You know how you’re always making friends.”
“You’re a riot,” Wraith said. “But the guy who hurt her was the same dude who was talking to Serena when I arrived in Alexandria the first night, and who later showed up at the Hall of Caracalla. This is definitely about her.” He shook his head. “I thought it might be about the artifacts she was after, but it’s too coincidental that she’s being stalked by a guy who can hurt her.”
“If he’d already gotten her charm, then why would he want to hurt her?”
“I’m telling you, he didn’t get it. No one did.”
Gem swept open the curtain. “Wraith’s right. This human is untouched.”
Wraith bit back an I-told-you-so. “So how the hell could anything hurt her if she’s still a virgin?”
“We’ll work on that,” E said. “In the meantime, you need to work on getting the charm. I’m surprised you aren’t taking the opportunity while she’s sedated to get her ready and willing…”
Wraith found himself in his brother’s face, nose to nose. “You think I’m so demented that I’d take her in her sleep?”
Eidolon’s dark gaze narrowed on him, but he said nothing. Wraith ground his teeth, just waiting for his brother to say something stupid. Shade’s hand came down on both Wraith’s and Eidolon’s shoulders.
“Now’s not the time for this,” Shade said. “But Wraith, you’ve got to do something. You’re running out of time.”
“Gee, thanks for the news flash.”
E scrubbed a hand over his face, and then froze. “Wait. If her charm isn’t working…”
“Then maybe it won’t work for Wraith, either,” Shade finished.
“It’s working,” Wraith said. “None of the other demons on the island could touch her.”
“So why the one guy?”
Wraith shrugged. “Sounds like a visit to our resident angel is in order. Can one of you take care of it?” Wraith stalked into Serena’s room. Gently, he removed the tape holding the IV catheter in Serena’s hand. “I’m taking her to her hotel room.”
“I think you should wait,” E said. “I’d like to run tests. Maybe there’s a medical answer to why this one demon can get past the charm.”
“Is she healthy enough to go?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then I’m taking her.”
“Wraith—”
“Don’t fuck with me on this.” He pulled the catheter free of her vein, stopped the bleeding with a gauze pad and direct pressure. “She needs to be topside. She needs sunlight. Air. I don’t want her waking up and seeing even more of the hospital. There’s no way I can explain, and I’m not messing with her memories again.”
He could practically feel his brothers’ stunned gazes, but they said nothing as E touched Serena’s hand and healed the tiny spot where the IV had been, erasing all evidence of having been in a hospital.
Gently, Wraith gathered her in his arms, her weight so pitifully light. “Let me know what you find out. I’m outta here.”
“Wraith.” E’s stern voice brought him to a halt. “You need to close the deal. Now.”
“Yeah, about that? I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m not going to kill her.” He spun around and met their surprised gazes head on. “Sucks to lose the hospital, but you two will survive. So stop with the urgency bullshit. It’s getting old.”
Shade grabbed Wraith’s biceps in a bruising hold. “That’s the thing… this isn’t about just you or the hospital anymore, bro. Seems that all of our life forces are tied to the hospital. As you die, UG dies. And when the hospital goes…”
A chill sliced through Wraith, leaving behind raw grief and incapaciting pain. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, and when he finally could, all he could do was finish Shade’s sentence.
“So do you and E.”
Fourteen
Eidolon and Shade swept through the hospital, both seeking out the one being who might possibly know something about what was going on with Serena.
Reaver.
Since the intercom was down, Shade checked out the dining hall and gym while E hit the patient’s rooms. He found the fallen angel finishing up with a hyena shifter in the next room.
“I need to speak with you.”
Reaver nodded, his mane of golden hair swishing around his shoulders. He patted the teenaged hyena on the shoulder. “Good as new. But stay away from lions from now on.”
The boy rolled his eyes. Like their counterparts in the animal world, hyena and lion shapeshifters hated each other with deadly ferocity. But the kid didn’t argue, merely thanked Reaver and beat feet out of the room.
Reaver started cleaning up the area, dumping bloody bandages and wrappers in the biohazard bins. “What’s up?”
Eidolon cut right to the chase. “We need more information about Serena Kelley.”