Now was the time to strike. Lore rushed in as Eidolon came around the desk. He’d forgotten to unsheathe his hand, but it was too late for that. He grabbed Eidolon’s right arm just as the other demon lay his hand on Shade.
Nothing happened. What the fuck? Eidolon wheeled around, and Lore slammed his fist into the male’s face. Eidolon stumbled backward, and then Shade’s fist was in Lore’s jaw. Lore went down in a heap, his killing arm pinned beneath him. He barely had time for a muffled groan when Shade stomped him in the throat with his huge-ass boot.
“What the fuck?” Eidolon stood in the center of the office, eyes red, blood dripping down his chin.
Shade grunted and put pressure on Lore’s neck. Lore would have a footprint embedded in his skin for a week. “You are so dead, dude.”
“How the hell did this just happen?”
“Well, E,” Shade drawled, “this fuck walked in and hit you, so I hit him—”
“Not that! The Haven spell. It’s been repaired.”
Shade’s head whipped around. “Then how did he attack you?” He backed away from Lore, who sucked in a few gulps of air.
And that was when Lore saw it. Eidolon’s arm. The tats. Oh, holy fuck.
“Good question, Lore,” came the female voice in the doorway. Gem. Fab. This just kept getting better and better. She glared at him. “I’m guessing you’re the asshole assassin? Way to use me to get inside the hospital. Boys, I say kill him.”
Wow, she was bloodthirsty. Lore liked that in a woman.
“Gladly,” Shade growled. “As much as I’d like to make it hurt, it’ll have to be quick. We don’t have time to play. Wraith needs us.” He came at Lore with murder in his eyes.
Lore rolled, whipping off his jacket as he did. “Wait!” He sat up. “My arm.” Eidolon reached for him, but Lore yanked his arm away. “Don’t. My touch kills.” Except, apparently not them.
“What the hell is going on?” Shade breathed, peeling off his own jacket.
Lore just stared. These guys sported identical markings, though theirs were darker, less diluted.
“Show me the top symbol,” Eidolon said, and Lore slowly tugged his collar down, exposing the base of his neck and the crooked arrow there.
“Hell’s rings,” Shade muttered, cocking his head to reveal the same arrow… only his sat just beneath an eye symbol. Eidolon’s was positioned beneath a set of scales.
Lore blinked. “What does this mean?”
Eidolon’s expression shuttered. “Unless this is some sort of trick, it means we’re brothers. Somehow, we’re fucking brothers.”
Gem tsked at Lore. “Lu-cy… you have some s’plainin’ to do.”
“We don’t have time,” Shade said. “We’ve got to get to Wraith. Gem, get the Bracken Cuffs. Lore here is going to learn the meaning of brotherly love.”
Twenty-five
So much had happened that Serena wasn’t sure what to do, think, or feel. All she knew was that the man she’d fallen in love with wasn’t a man at all, and that he was now bleeding to death on the floor.
She didn’t know what to do to help, but she did know that she shouldn’t remove the sword that pinned him to the floor like an insect in an entomologist’s display case. The sword protruded from his back, its hilt still glowing with a strange azure light that seemed to grow dimmer as Josh—Wraith—whatever his name was grew weaker.
Helpless, all she could do was sit there and try to not throw up.
“S-Serena…”
Her name came out in a gurgle of blood, and her gut clenched. She should hate him—she did hate him—but she couldn’t stand this, didn’t want to see him suffer.
“What can I do?” She sifted her hand through his thick hair, remembering how it had felt to do that when he’d been coming inside her. Damn him. “Your brothers… I can call them, right? Are they really doctors?”
He didn’t answer. Frantic, she felt for a pulse. It bounded weakly against her fingers, but at least he was still alive.
She had to find his cell phone. She’d call every number in his address book until she found help. Awkwardly, because her legs had gone numb, she stood, but she hadn’t taken a step when she heard a pounding on the front door.
A weapon. She needed a weapon—the crack of wood rang out. Then, a rush of footsteps. Instinctively, she kneeled, crowding protectively close to Josh, but when she saw the two huge men… or demons, she supposed… barreling through the doorway, she nearly scrambled away.
Josh had told her he had two brothers, and with the exception of their dark hair these men resembled him so closely that they had to be related.
“Oh, fuck.” The one with long black hair, wearing head-to-toe black leather, froze, his dark gaze locked on the sword skewering Josh’s body.
The other one, dressed in scrubs, charged into the room and dropped to his knees at Josh’s side. “Bro. It’s Eidolon. Just hold on.” He turned to the doorway. “Shade.”
The one called Shade shook himself out of it, strode into the room, and dropped the medic bag he was carrying. “We need to get him to the hospital.”
“He won’t make it.”