“It’s the s’genesis, isn’t it? Messing you up, screwing with your judgment.”
There was a long silence, and then Shade opened his mouth to say something else, but Eidolon cut him off by grasping the side of his brother’s face. The hold reminded her of a scene from a Star Trek movie she’d once seen, where Spock probed some Vulcan chick’s mind. Shade closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, blood stopped trickling from his nose. Feeling like a voyeur, Tayla wanted to look away, but couldn’t. How had the two brothers gone from violent bloodshed to some sort of intimate bonding so quickly?
The throbbing in her head finally subsided, and she cleared her throat. “Hey, is the touchy-feely homo moment over? Because I’m wondering how Minion of Darkness One got to hit Minion of Darkness Two without his skull fracturing.”
Eidolon’s mouth twitched in a half-smile. “I had the Haven spell altered so it didn’t apply to me or my brothers.”
“So you guys can beat anyone you want?”
“No. Just each other.”
They came to blows so often that they’d designed an antiviolence spell around their sibling rivalry? “Growing up in your house must have been fun.” A lot like growing up in foster homes, probably, something she knew way too much about.
Shade stepped back from Eidolon and speared her with a look of pure malice. “We weren’t raised together.” He turned to his brother. “Nancy didn’t show up for work today, and she’s not answering her phone. Watch your back.”
Nodding, Eidolon opened the door and ushered Shade out. “Come on, slayer. I’m taking you home.”
Five
The trip through the underground parking lot proved uneventful, though once they’d settled into Eidolon’s sporty but unassuming silver BMW, he forced some sort of gem into Tayla’s hand. Instantly, she went blind, but for some reason, she couldn’t drop the stone.
Clammy sweat coated her skin as he started the car. “What did you do to me?”
“The effect is temporary. I’ll take back the artifact once we’re clear of the hospital.”
The BMW slid into motion, the smooth ride angling up some sort of steep incline. Once they leveled out, she wondered if they were out of range of the Haven spell, and then decided that pummeling him while she was blind and he was driving might not be the best idea she’d ever had.
Silence descended on the leather-scented interior like a shroud. Tay bounced her legs. Tapped her fingers on the arm rest. Chewed her lip.
Anything to keep her breathing even and steady when all she wanted to do was fight the darkness, silence, and unknown.
“I should have sedated you.”
“I’m sure you’ll regret it soon enough.” Like when she drove a blade through his throat at her first opportunity.
“I already do.”
She really wanted to glare at him. “Anything else you regret? Like saving me? I mean, why didn’t you let me die?”
“I’m a doctor.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m not a doctor?”
“You’re a demon, smartass, so you can’t tell me that the hypocritical oath applies to you.”
“Hippocratic, and it doesn’t.”
“A, I was being sarcastic, and B, you didn’t answer my question.”
She felt the vehicle take a sharp turn and sensed that he’d steered a little harder than he needed to. “I don’t owe you any answers.”
“Christ,” she muttered. “I hate demons.”
His bark of laughter made her jump like a twitchy cat. “I didn’t let you die because doing so would go against hospital policy, which I wrote and can’t violate without losing the respect of my staff.”
He sounded as if he might be telling the truth, but then, demons lied as easily as they killed. “Know what I think?”
“Please,” he said drolly, “do tell me.”
Ass. “I think you kept me alive to get information about The Aegis. You’d have been stupid not to.”
“That was part of the original plan, yes. But since you aren’t hanging from razor wire in a dungeon with rubber floors that hose clean, you can assume the plan changed.”
His tone told her there was a story behind the rubber-floored dungeon, a story she figured belonged shelved alongside the only books she owned, tattered, used copies of Stephen King novels. “Does the change of plans have something to do with the play-fair-Justice-Dealer thing your brother was talking about?” When he didn’t answer, she pressed on, because the dark silence was making her nuts. “What’s a Justice Dealer?”
“My former career. I was raised by the Judicia.”
“Ah. Vengeance demons.”
“Justice demons,” he corrected. “Vengeance demons can be summoned by anyone, human or demon, to take revenge on another. Justice demons serve only other demons—generally species and breed Councils. And, unlike vengeance demons, Judicium must investigate the complaint before taking action.”
Interesting. Demons had their own cops. “What happens after the investigation?”