God, Tayla hoped not. If Eidolon’s own brother was involved . . .
“Jesus Christ! Is one lover not enough?” Kynan, bruised and bloody, stood behind Eidolon, gaping at Lori and Wraith. Battle-lust burned in his eyes, and Tay wondered what had happened to Jagger. Ky sat solidly in the camp where thought had fled and only rage remained. He lunged for Wraith. Eidolon tackled him, one thick arm going around Ky’s waist, the other jammed against his throat.
They tumbled to the ground, Kynan shouting obscenities, Eidolon doing his best to calm him while pinning him to the pavement.
“We need to know what she knows!” Eidolon said, a few times, and gradually, Kynan grew still, though his nostrils flared and his lips peeled back as if he wanted to take a piece out of Eidolon with his teeth.
Breathing hard even though she’d just been standing there, Tay turned back to Lori and Wraith—and gasped. Wraith’s fangs were buried in Lori’s neck, and she’d gone limp. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, and the other had dropped between them, his hand working her jeans zipper.
“Uh, was that supposed to happen?”
Eidolon twisted around and cursed. “Wraith. Shit.” He eased his forearm off Ky’s throat and looked him square in the eye. “I’m going to let you up. Don’t make me regret not killing you.”
“You’ve got to trust him, Kynan,” Tayla said.
Aggression permeated the air, and strangely, Tay could feel it on her skin, as though the battle-rage the two males were throwing had raised the temperature . . . not enough to register on a thermometer, but enough to jack up her body a little. It was sort of . . . arousing. She couldn’t wait to get Eidolon somewhere private so she could discover more neat perks of the bonding.
Kynan’s only response to Eidolon was a low growl and a nearly imperceptible nod, but it was enough. Eidolon pushed up from the ground, and after making sure Ky wasn’t going to leap on him, he inched toward his brother. “Release the human.”
Wraith’s gaze shifted to Eidolon, his eyes fierce and golden, his nostrils flaring. As Eidolon drew closer, Wraith pulled back, bringing Lori with him, a feral animal protecting its prey from approaching scavengers.
“Wraith,” Eidolon said softly, “easy. Release the human female.”
That did it. Wraith’s eyes shot wide, his teeth disengaged, and he stumbled backward. Eidolon caught Lori as she sagged to the ground.
Panting, his pupils dilating and contracting wildly, Wraith collapsed against a gate. When Kynan rushed forward, Eidolon handed Lori off to him and went to Wraith. Footsteps and screeches still rang out in the night, so Tayla kept watch while the drama she didn’t understand played out between the four humans and demons.
Kynan settled Lori against a tree, more gently than Tay would have expected, given the circumstances. He said something to her, but Tayla moved away, not wanting to intrude. Besides, she was dying to know what the thing with Wraith was all about.
“It’s okay, bro,” Eidolon was saying. “It’s okay. You didn’t hurt her.”
Didn’t hurt her? Something was seriously off here. Wraith had been perfectly willing to kill Tayla, yet he hadn’t wanted to hurt Lori?
Wraith shivered, rocking back and forth, his expression a combination of shell-shock and horror.
A chuffing sound brought her around, gold-plated dagger in hand. Kynan came to his feet, stang at the ready. Just like old times, they moved in sync toward the noise, and when she saw the demon trotting down the footpath, she sighed with relief. Kynan assumed an attack position.
“No!” She grabbed his arm. “Let it go.”
“What?” Kynan stared at her as if she’d gone mad. “Jesus, there’s nothing left of your humanity, is there?”
“Actually, I think I’m more human than ever,” she said, because ironically, mating with a demon, becoming a demon . . . those things had allowed her to finally feel something other than blind hatred. “That demon won’t hurt anyone. It’s not violent. It’s even a vegetarian. They’re like, happy Halloween demons or some crap.”
“Even if you’re right, it’s evil—”
God, she’d sounded like that to Eidolon, hadn’t she? “We need to talk. There are a lot of things you should know.”
Though Kynan’s fingers tightened around his weapon, he didn’t make a move. The demon slipped away. They turned back to Lori . . . who was gone.
“Dammit!” Agony screamed from every one of Kynan’s pores, and Tayla fought the urge to console him. Words meant nothing right now, not when his wife had betrayed him in so many ways. Not when the words came from a demon.
Kynan took off at a dead run, heading into the zoo once more. She let him go, and silently wished him luck.
Eidolon was still confused as hell about what had gone on with Wraith and the human female. His gut told him that Wraith wasn’t involved in the black market operation, but shit, the human had been sure of it.