“Good. I think we all feel the same way.”
Yeah, she doubted that. Lori wasn’t the one with the lacerated liver. Which reminded her that someone was stealing demon livers—and other parts. Eidolon was convinced The Aegis was behind it. But he also claimed Tay was half-demon. If he was wrong about one, maybe he was wrong about the other. Oh, please let him be wrong about the other.
“Lori,” she croaked. “Speaking of war, do you know anything about the demons that are being captured and chopped up for their parts?”
Lori’s gaze slammed into hers. “What are you talking about?”
A twinge of pain made her suck air before she could speak. “Eidolon. He told me The Aegis was capturing demons. Selling their parts on the underworld black market. Is it true?”
“You’re taking the word of a demon?” Lori asked, her tone putting a chill in the air.
“I’m trying to get to the truth.” Of everything. “I don’t care if it’s happening, but the demons think it is, and it’s put them on the offensive instead of the defensive. If The Aegis isn’t involved, it makes sense that we should find out who is, before more Guardians die.”
“If The Aegis is involved,” Lori said, “it isn’t through our cell.”
Jagger snorted. “Great idea, though. We should get in on it. We could make a shitload of money.”
Lori shot him a dirty look. “Jagger, have Scott take Tayla to Queens and leave her near that restaurant we’ve been staking out. She can contact the demon hospital from there, say she was injured in a fight.”
“Okay, you know, screw that,” Tayla said tightly. “I’m not comfortable with this plan.” She didn’t know if her hesitation came from a reluctance to see Eidolon again or if she didn’t want to face what he’d said about her parentage, but in any case, something was niggling at her, something she couldn’t put her finger on. But she’d learned to trust her gut, even when it was bleeding out.
Jagger bent over her, and when he started to stroke her hair, she shoved him away. Still, he leaned close, so close she could smell the sausage pizza he’d had for lunch on his breath. “You said you’re willing to do what’s necessary, Tay. Did you change your mind? You getting chummy with the demons?”
“I just don’t think this is the way to go.” She stood, forcing him to straighten and back up. “And don’t you ever question my loyalty again.”
“I guess we could send someone else,” Lori sighed.
Yeah, that was straight out of Manipulation 101 class, but even knowing that, Tayla took the bait. “It has to be me. They know me, even if they want to kill me.”
Limping, she followed Jagger out of the room, Eidolon’s words from days ago ringing in her head.
Brainwashed lemmings following orders without question.
Thirteen
“Have you found a mate yet?”
Eidolon pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand and held the cell phone a couple of inches away from his ear with the other. “No, mother.”
“You don’t have a lot of time, you know.”
“I know, mother.”
“Your uncle Chuke knows a fiery little Oni who hasn’t mated. And you know how gluttonous they are, always eating and drinking and having too much sex. She’d be perfect for you. She’d certainly give you a heads-up when disease or disaster was about to strike the human population.”
Eidolon’s head was starting to hurt. Good thing he was at the hospital, where he had access to plenty of pain medication. “Thanks, but I’ll find my own mate.”
“Be sure you do. I don’t want to lose you to that horrible change. I won’t stand by and watch you be hunted by every male in the underworld. I’ll kill you myself. Do you understand?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Come by for dinner this weekend if you have a chance. Ravan is bringing home her first suitor. We thought we’d put him on the spike and interrogate him before the appetizers.”
“Sounds fun. I’ll see if I can make it.”
Eidolon snapped the phone shut and jammed it into his scrub pants’ pocket.
“Your mom harassing you about a mate?”
Wraith stood at the ER entrance, arms crossed, shoulder braced against the sliding glass door. He’d pulled his blond hair back and tied it with a leather thong that matched his jacket, an Indiana Jones replica that suited him, given that his job at UG was to hunt down ancient relics and magical artifacts, often from hazardous locations.
Eidolon nodded. “She threatened to kill me again.”
“Yeah, my mom did that a lot. Only she meant it. Tried, that one time . . .”