Sin Undone

“Okay, so now that you’ve saved my life and pointed out the glaringly obvious, why are you still here?”


They all exchanged glances, which couldn’t be good. Finally, Shade cleared his throat. “Con said you healed a warg.” “Did he also tell you what happened to her?”

“Yeah,” Eidolon said. “But I’m not sure how much difference her survival would have made. The virus has mutated. It’s affecting born wargs now.”

The information drilled a hole in her more efficiently than the exomangler had. She exhaled shakily and tried to keep her voice above a whisper. “So what now?” “We’re going to have to take some drastic measures. We can’t afford to waste more time looking for infected wargs, and it’s getting too dangerous for you. I got the Carceris off your back temporarily, so we’ll bring you into the hospital and find some volunteers to infect and then cure, so I can work with the killed virus.”

“Getting volunteers to be willingly infected with a fatal disease won’t be easy.” Con shifted on the mattress, causing her to roll toward him a little more. The contact comforted her, made her wish he’d stretch out beside her.

“Want me to grab a volunteer?” Wraith asked, and Sin had a feeling his “volunteer” wasn’t going to be a willing one.

Con’s mouth tightened. “I can point you toward a couple of Warg Council members I’d like to ‘volunteer.’ ” “We’re not forcing anyone.” Sin sat up and grimaced. Someone had put her into clothes that weren’t hers. Which made sense, given that everything she owned was at the assassin den. But whose brilliant idea had it been to put her in a hideous, pink, floral T-shirt? With glitter. At least the jeans fit. “I’ve fucked over enough people with this.”

“How about Luc?” Wraith sprawled in the bedside chair, legs spread, arms splayed wide, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “He’s running on borrowed time as it is.”

Lore swung around to him. “Why’s that?”

“He made me swear to kill him when he lost his humanity. Which pretty much happened when Aegi scum killed his would-be mate.”

“Hey,” Tayla huffed. “Aegi scum present, you know.” Wraith grinned, and Sin got the impression that those two took a lot of pleasure in needling each other. “So let’s say we get our volunteer,” she said, “cure the disease, and a truce is called in the civil war. Will the Warg Council still want my head?”

Con reached for a glass of water sitting on the bedside table, and handed it to her. “I’ll talk to them.”

“And the chances of them backing off?” Shade asked. Con’s expression was grim. “Not good.” He stroked the back of her hand absently, but Sin noticed that her brothers’ eyes zeroed in on the action. Impossible to tell what they were thinking. Well, Wraith was clearly amused, but the others… not so much. “As soon as you find a volunteer and we confirm a cure, I’ll go to them. I have a little clout and some of the members owe me.”

Sin’s eyes stung. He was willing to use up some favors for her? All of these guys were willing to help her? Once again, emotion overwhelmed her, and she vaulted out of bed. “I need a glass of water.”

Never mind that she had one in her hand. She needed to get out of there. She was on emotional overload and short-circuiting was a danger. She took the stairs down two at a time and darted into the kitchen, where she backed into a corner and stood there, panting, wondering what in the hell was going on with her. She didn’t know how long she’d been there when she heard someone coming down the steps. Too light for any of the guys.

Tayla.

“I’m surprised they sent you,” Sin said when Tay entered the kitchen. “I was betting on Lore or Shade.”

“I had to convince those two to stay.” Tay rolled her eyes. “Which was easier than convincing Con not to chase you.”

For some reason, that made Sin all warm and fuzzy.

“Eidolon, of course, wanted to come check your vitals. I think Wraith just wanted to make fun of you.”

Sin snorted. “And you?” Tayla’s hand dropped to her thigh holster, where the hilt of a dagger protruded from its leather housing, and Sin instinctively tensed. But the slayer’s fingers only played with the sleek wooden handle. Still, her gaze was steady, fearless, focused like green laser beams, and the way she was studying Sin was almost adversarial.

“Wraith and I don’t agree on much,” she said slowly, “but we do have a meeting of the minds—feeble as his is—when it comes to protecting the family.”

Okay, Sin knew where this was going. “And you’re afraid I’m going to hurt my brothers. Yeah, yeah, Wraith already gave me the hurt-them-and-you’ll-be-sorry speech, so save your breath.” Tayla’s fingers continued to caress the weapon. “Look, I know you don’t want to talk—” “You don’t know anything,” Sin snapped.

One eyebrow arched up. “I think you’d be surprised.”