Sin Undone

I’m sleeping in a freaking nursery and I miss Con. “Peachy.” She scrubbed her eyes with the heel of her palm. “Any news? On the vaccine?” Lore nodded. “E was up all night working on it, and the R-XR even allowed Wraith to bring specialists from USAMRIID into the hospital to help.” “They’ll be mind-wiped, of course,” Shade said. Sin sipped the coffee, hissed when it burned her tongue. “What’s going on with the warg war and the military action against them?” Lore whistled, loud and long. “The last few hours have been fucked-up. The war is dragging a lot of different demon species into it. Some that are loyal to the borns, some who are loyal to the turneds, and some who just like to fight. Both sides have hired mercs, too.”


Shade nodded. “It’s already getting messy and spilling over into the human world. The Aegis is working overtime on damage control, but people are seeing shit they shouldn’t be seeing. Religious fanatics are screaming about the end of the world, governments are trying to deflect, but it won’t be long before someone catches something on video and it ends up on the Internet or some crap.”

“What’s going on with the R-XR?” Shade growled. “Arik, that bastard, is holed up in my cave and won’t leave.” He clenched his fists as though imagining his brother-in-law’s neck in them. “And Runa won’t let me kill him.” “That’s too bad,” Sin said, but Shade totally missed the sarcasm and nodded.

Lore rolled his eyes. “Shade’s cave is filling up, between Arik, Luc, Kar…”

“Good thing I have the cave set up for a warg shift,” Shade muttered. “Kar’s Feast shifts are insane.” “Luc mentioned that Feast wargs are bigger and stronger.” Shade snorted. “No shit. She nearly tore the hooks out of the stone. It would have been better to put her in Runa’s cage at our house, but it’s not safe yet.” “So the R-XR and The Aegis are still trying to exterminate the wargs?”

“Until E starts the vaccinations, yeah,” Shade said. “He’s hoping to start testing today.” “Are Con, Wraith, and Eidolon still in trouble with the Carceris?”

“Eidolon and Wraith will be fine.” Shade patted his BDU chest pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. “They’d have risked a lot more to make sure you were safe.” So yes, they were still in trouble, and she felt guiltier than ever. Thanks, Con. I appreciate having these horrible feelings. She shouldn’t ask. She really shouldn’t. The fact that her brothers hadn’t mentioned Con’s name should be a warning sign. But then, she’d never been one to obey signs or take hints. “What about Con?” she blurted, her heart pounding wildly, because at this point, she needed to let him go. She’d go back to her den and back to her life, and he’d go back to being a paramedic and dealing with his dhampire clan stuff.

But she really, really couldn’t bear the thought of sleeping with someone else. Or of being alone. Shade’s expression shuttered, and her lungs struggled to take in a breath. “What about him?” “Is he… is he here right now? Working?”

“No.” Shade revealed nothing in his voice or his eyes, but Lore had a tell when he was nervous, and the way his left pinky flexed totally gave him away. “What’s going on?” she growled. “And don’t BS me.” The boys glanced at each other, and after a little shuffling of their feet, Lore said, “He left for Scotland.” “He’s not coming back,” Shade said. “He quit.”

“Oh my God.” Her heart jerked painfully against her ribs. “He wouldn’t quit. He loves it here.” “Dunno what to tell you. His clan will perform some sort of ritual tonight that’ll bind him to them.”

“No.” Her dazed mind refused to believe he’d leave the hospital. Sure, she’d planned to stay away from here, but some small part of her had taken comfort in knowing that if she did come back, he’d be here. Even if they couldn’t be together, he’d be here. “I’ll go to him. Talk him out of it.” And jump his bones while she was at it.

“Sin,” Lore sighed, “it’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t care about my safety!”

Shade stiffened. “We do. If you haven’t figured that out by now—”

“I know.” Her voice was soft, but firm, a copy of Con’s soothing medic voice she’d somehow learned. “But I really can take care of myself.” “But Idess can’t,” Lore said, and then he winced, closed his eyes as if he just realized what he’d said. “What? What do you mean, Idess can’t? Dammit, bro, what the hell is going on?” Lore and Shade exchanged glances, and she wanted to scream. Stomp her feet. Throw a little-girl temper tantrum because they were certainly treating her like she was a delicate tot. “I swear, I’m going to knock your heads together so hard you’ll be hearing tweeting finches for a year. Now tell me!”

Shade’s mouth twitched in a half-smile, and she figured he was picturing her trying to slap down two demons who were twice her size, but Lore didn’t appear so amused. Probably because he knew she could do it.

She shoved to her feet. “Well?”

Lore sighed. “Your assassins went after Idess.”

She felt all the blood drain from her face. “What happened?”