Sin Undone

She. Loved. Him. It was something she’d never thought could happen, and she’d realized it too late. If she could go back in time, to his apartment, she’d change everything. She’d be his, he’d be hers, and he wouldn’t be dead. It was possible, even, that a stronger bond with Con would have prevented Raynor from having any hold on her.

She was such a fool! Fueled by hatred and regret, she stopped in front of the chain-link gate of the junkyard her collar had led her to. Raynor was inside, no doubt about it. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, she dug the new cell phone Shade had given her out of her backpack and dialed Eidolon. “I’m here. Some sort of auto yard outside Pittsburgh, near the Gerunti Harrowgate.” Sin had no idea why some of the gates were named after demons, but then, she didn’t care. Would be nice to find a Seminus gate, though.

“Good. Be careful.” Eidolon hung up before she could say anything else. She pushed open the creaky gate and moved between the junked autos. Movement surrounded her, people watching from shadowed recesses and concealed perches. No doubt they were varcolac, patrolling for enemies like junkyard dogs.

She found Raynor near the trunk of a trashed Corvette. Smoke from a cigarette wafted up from his hand, and he smiled as he took a drag. Hatred rolled over her with such intensity that it stung her skin.

“I’m here, asshole,” she snapped.

He blew out a stream of smoke. “Took you long enough.”

“What do you want? And why are we in a damned junkyard?”

“Because I own it.”

She glanced around, took in the rusted piece-of-shit cars, skittering rats, and rotting tires. “You should be so proud.” He slapped her so hard her teeth rattled and her eyes stung, but she refused to react except to say saucily, “You must have heard how I like foreplay.” Except she didn’t. Until Con. Oh, God. Her knees nearly buckled, and she had to lock them in order to stay upright.

“I hope you like it a lot, because with your mouth, you’ll be getting it nonstop.”

“Goody,” she said dryly. “Because I so love a man who needs to prove his masculinity by beating on women. Do you hit children and kick cats, too?”

He laughed. “You’re no woman. You’re a half-breed abomination who’s lucky enough to have not been caught by a Purifier yet.” Purifiers were demons—of any species—who hunted half-breeds for fun or money or just a twisted sense of responsibility. In the demon world, anything mixed with human blood deserved to die. And she had encountered Purifiers before. She’d just killed them before they killed her.

“So, is that why I’m here? So you can use this half-breed freak as a punching bag?” “I’m going to take you to the warg village you visited with Conall. You’re going to infect a few pricolici with something that will spread to others.” Her cheek throbbed from his blow, and she tested a tooth with her tongue. “Are you completely stupid? We went over this before. The last time I did that, the virus mutated. What makes you think this will be any different? You could end up killing your own people.”

Raynor took a drag on his cig, and Sin suddenly wondered if turned wargs got lung cancer. She kind of hoped so. “And I told you: not if the pricolici are contained. The warg version of Dragaica has just started.” At what must have been a what-the-hell-is-that look on her face, he rolled his eyes. “Romanian midsummer festival,” he said, as if she should know all about Romanian holidays. “Very important to born wargs. In the town you visited with Con, the largest pricolici gathering of the year will take place, and now that immunizations against SF have begun, there is even more reason to celebrate. Nearly every pricolici in the world will be there.” Raynor paused to take another drag, and Sin felt bile rise up in her throat, scouring it raw with disgust and hatred. “We’ll bar the gate, they’ll get sick, and they will die within the confines of their own walls. The beauty of this is that even though all pricolici won’t be destroyed, the race will be weakened, scattered to the winds, and the varcolac will finally become the dominant warg species.”

“You,” she said hoarsely, “are a sick fuck.” Raynor shrugged. “Eye of the beholder.” He frowned, and at the same time, Sin picked up the sound of… a scuffle? Muted… and from several directions, but definitely fighting going on. Cursing, Raynor threw his butt to the ground, grabbed Sin’s arm, and dragged her toward the rear of the junkyard.

Out of nowhere, Wraith appeared, blocking Raynor’s retreat. “Hey. Where ya goin’?” Ray’s hand tightened on Sin’s biceps. “One of your brothers, I’m guessing?”

“Yep. The mean one. Oh, wait, they’re all mean.” She grinned. “You are so fucked.” Ray snarled at Wraith. “You do realize that if you hurt me, she suffers.”