She did, and he strode in, completely encased in black leather and steel-toed boots. Wraith entered behind Shade, somehow looking even more lethal than his brother despite the fact that he wore torn jeans and a Hooters T-shirt. Danger followed in his wake . . . followed, because it wouldn’t dare get in his way.
They both stopped short at the sight of Eidolon on the floor in the bedroom, in shackles and unmoving.
“Overkill, much?” Shade said, striding forward to drop his medic bag next to Eidolon.
“You didn’t see him before.”
“What do you mean?” Wraith asked, joining Shade.
“He turned into a Soulshredder.”
Shade let out a low, stunned whistle, but Wraith grinned over his shoulder at her. “Damn. First time he shapeshifts, he picks something like that. Who knew he had it in him?”
“Is it really him?”
Shade knelt and palmed Eidolon’s forehead. “Yeah, it’s him. Tayla, I need you to remove the restraints.”
She tossed him the key, still hesitant to go anywhere near.
“E?” Wraith helped Shade turn him onto his back. “Bro, you hear me?”
Eidolon groaned. “What happened?”
“You got your ass whupped,” Wraith said, squatting on his heels and bracing his forearms on his knees. “Almost sounds like you deserved it.”
“Where’s Tayla? Is she okay?” He tried to sit up, but Shade and Wraith pushed him back down.
“I’m fine.” She moved closer, drawn by the concern in his voice. “I’m not sure what happened.”
“She says you turned into a Soulshredder.”
The blood drained from Eidolon’s handsome face. He levered into a sit even with both brothers trying to make him eat carpet. “I what?”
“What do you remember?” Shade asked, as he inserted a needle into Eidolon’s hand. His dark hair had fallen down around his face, concealing his expression, but his broad shoulders hunched with tension.
“Not much.” Eidolon’s voice turned husky, and his eyes went gold as he looked at her. “I wanted her. I know that.”
Wraith placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Idle down, man. Now’s not the time. And that’s something I never thought I’d say.”
Eidolon went utterly still, and then he shook his head as though trying to clear it. “That’s all I know. I wanted to take her. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
Heat washed over her body at the memory of how she’d awakened, ready for him even though they’d spent the entire night engaged in the most amazing erotic play. But then she’d noticed that he looked different. Acted different. Terrifyingly different.
“It was weird,” she said. “It was like he was possessed.”
“So you refused him?” Shade asked, and she bristled.
“Well, hello . . . he wasn’t himself—”
“Chill,” Shade said, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it. “I didn’t mean anything. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this. For his sake.”
She felt herself blush. Talking sex with Eidolon’s brothers was just too weird. “Yeah, I refused him. That’s when he turned into the Soulshredder.” She shuddered. “We were talking about them last night. Maybe it was the first demon he thought of to change into.”
Wraith and Shade exchanged glances, something ominous passing between them. Eidolon seemed distracted, looking inward, his face still ashen.
“That’s why he didn’t return,” Eidolon muttered, making no sense. He shoved both hands through his hair and focused on her with an intensity that made her take a step back. “It bothered me, why the Soulshredder didn’t come back to torment you after he killed your mother. That’s what they do. They keep at it, driving their victims insane.”
“You don’t think the memory of what he did has tormented me all these years?” And why did her voice have to tremble like that? Eidolon had helped her through so much last night, and now she felt as if she was living the trauma all over again.
“I know it has, lirsha.” He scooted toward her, slowly, and with every inch, she felt panic rise. “But now it’s making sense. You weren’t his intended victim. He didn’t kill your mom to torment you. He killed her after tormenting her for years.”
“Years? No. That couldn’t be.” She frowned, because actually, what he said made sense. Everyone who’d known her said she’d had goals, a good life, and then she started doing drugs. Tayla remembered how she would talk about getting rid of her demons . . .
They’d been real. The demons had been real, and no one had believed her.
“She’d get clean for a while, and then relapse, going off about demons, how her nightmares had started again. He must have come to her during the times when she was clean, and he drove her back to the drugs.”
“When did she start using?”
“I’m not sure . . .” Before her grandma died, she’d told Tayla that everything happened at once. Her mom had dropped out of college in the middle of a nervous breakdown everyone assumed had come as a result of stress, drugs, and an unexpected pregnancy . . . “Oh, God. God, no.”