Ecstasy Unveiled

Twelve

Sin swung her feet back and forth over the edge of the bed like a little kid waiting for her parents in the principal’s office. Not that she knew what that felt like. She and Lore had been educated at home by grandparents who placed more emphasis on physical labor than the three Rs.

And what the hell was taking Eidolon so long? She’d come in for the autopsy stuff, and he’d made her wait for—she glanced at her watch—a freaking hour. She practically had the entire volume of Medical Parasitology memorized, and… eww.

She didn’t have time for this. She had a plan, and she needed to put it into action.

Deth still felt Lore’s life force, which meant Idess hadn’t been lying. Lore was alive. So instead of trying to injure the angel with the Gargantua dagger, she was going to mark her with an assassin’s secret weapon. A tracer grenade, once detonated, contaminated everything within twenty yards with a substance that left an easily followed trail. There were limitations and catches that made them unstable, dangerous, and often unreliable in untrained hands, but Sin was an expert, and nothing had ever gone wrong with one of her grenades. No, the greatest challenge was locating the ingredients and assembling the thing.

After she finished, she’d have to cool her heels until the devil’s hour, which was easier said than done. Unlike Lore, Sin had never been patient. Her brother would make a good sniper, could wait for days to get the one perfect, surgical shot; Sin would rather charge into a situation with all guns blazing, mow everyone down, and let God and Satan sort out the souls.

Tired of waiting, she hopped off the bed. She’d hunt Eidolon down if she had to. The door opened before she reached it, and a Seminus wearing a black paramedic uniform walked in. With his dark hair, stern expression, and broad shoulders, he looked like a cross between Eidolon and Lore.

“You must be another brother,” she muttered.

“Shade.”

“Great. Nice to meet you. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go.”

He seemed a little taken aback, but his expression closed off as he blocked the door. “Eidolon will be here in a minute. He went to grab the report you’re waiting for.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I’ve been waiting for an hour already.”

“He’s had some emergencies to deal with, but he’s going to get it now. Really.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

He stared back.

“Well?” she snapped. “You gonna stand there all day? Don’t you have somewhere you have to be?”

“I just got off duty.” He dug into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pack of gum. “I figured we should meet.”

Sin gestured to the door. “’Kay. We’ve met. Buh-bye.” Shade looked completely at a loss. “Why aren’t you gone yet?”

“Why are you being like this?”

God, what was it with these guys? “Because I just want to be left alone, okay? Is that so difficult to understand?”

He cocked a brow. “No, actually. But maybe if you got to know us—”

“I don’t want to!” She shoved him out of the way and swung open the door, needing to get away from the crushing pressure of sudden family. “Just stay away from me. I’ve lived over a hundred years without you, and I certainly don’t need you now.”

She didn’t need anyone. She’d learned a long time ago that she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. Not even Lore. He’d left her when she’d needed him the most, and though she understood why he’d done it and she knew he was trying to make it up to her, some part of her just couldn’t fully lower her defensive shields and let him back in all the way.

Trust, as her old master used to say, was evil and insidious. And he’d know. He’d taken her off the streets when she was vulnerable, made her trust him, and then he’d forced her to do… things. He’d taken advantage of her ability to kill and her need for sex, and he’d used them until her soul had shriveled.

Even before he’d come along, trust had made her believe that her mother would love her. She hadn’t. It had made Sin think her grandparents would always be there for her. They’d died. It had made her believe Lore would take care of her. He’d abandoned her.

No one would abandon her ever again.

Except, that really wasn’t true anymore, was it? She’d come close to letting Lore back in, closer than she’d thought possible. And now he was gone. Sure, it wasn’t logical to blame him this time, any more than she should blame her grandparents for dying. But logic had never been her strong suit.

She stalked away from Shade, heart pounding and hoping he wouldn’t chase her down. Problem was, she didn’t know where she was going. She’d come via the Harrowgate, but she didn’t remember the way and when she was freaked, her senses dulled. She couldn’t sense the gate at all.

An exit loomed ahead, double sliding doors. Quickly, she slipped through them and found herself in an underground parking lot that didn’t appear to have a way out. Didn’t that just figure. After wandering around for a few minutes, she gave up, but there was no way she was going back inside the hospital. Not yet. She just needed a few minutes of peace and quiet, with no annoying brothers watching her every move.

The last two days’ events had taken a toll on her, and although she could use a quart of Lore’s homemade rotgut and a week-long nap, she figured the best she was going to get right now was a few minutes of hiding herself away. Exhausted, she sank down onto the pavement next to a black ambulance.

She wasn’t there for more than thirty seconds when she heard footsteps. Groaning, she buried her head in her hands.

“Fuck off, Shade—”

“Not Shade. Conall.”

Startled, she snapped her head up, and no, the guy standing there was definitely not her brother. It was the extremely hot vampire paramedic she’d seen wheel in the warg she’d killed. The one with the funky silver eyes and sandy blond hair. Mr. Personality.

“You okay?” he asked gruffly.

“Ah… yeah.”

“Then why are you skulking around my ambulance?”

“I wasn’t skulking. I was resting.”

“In a parking lot.” He gave her a dry look. “On the ground.”

She shoved to her feet. “Do all medical personnel take classes on how to be obnoxious? Because I thought maybe it was a brother thing, but I’m starting to think it’s a medical thing.”

“You’ve got one hell of a chip on your shoulder, don’t you?” The vampire opened the back of the ambulance and tossed a nylon bag inside.

Sin frowned. “You don’t even know me.”

“And let me guess,” he said, sounding utterly bored. “That’s the way you like it.”

“What, are you psychic or something?”

He laughed, a deep, melodious sound that rang through her. “I’m over a thousand years old. I’ve seen it all. You, sweetcheeks, are nothing new.” At what must have been an outraged expression on her face, he laughed again. “Come on. Surely you can’t think you are the only female out there who’s had a rough life, had her heart walked on, been kept in a dungeon for three centuries, blah, blah, pick your trauma, and are now stomping around with all this pent-up anger you spill like acid on everyone who tries to get to know you.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “How close am I?”

Sin’s mouth worked, but nothing came out. She finally snapped it shut to avoid looking like a fish gasping on the bank of a river.

“That’s what I thought.” He made a shooing gesture with his hand. “Now, run along and go be caustic with someone who cares. Oh, wait, no one cares, do they? Because you won’t let them—”

She struck out, wanting to break that perfect nose. He caught her wrist when her knuckles were half an inch from his face. He didn’t blink, and the only part of his body that had moved—like lightning—had been his arm. Baring his fangs, he bent over her so their noses nearly touched. “Do not ever strike me. You have no idea what I am capable of.”

“Ditto, dickwad.” She should fire up her gift and give him some horrible vampire disease. Vamps might be dead, but that meant they succumbed even more quickly. She wasn’t sure how that worked, but it did. Except… his hand was warm. His body was warm. He wasn’t a vampire. At least, he wasn’t a dead vampire.

“Go away.” He released her with a shove. “I have better things to do than spar with a little girl in need of a good spanking.”

Oh, she’d show him who was going to get spanked. As he turned away, dismissing her with nothing more than a curt shake of his head, she swept her leg out, catching him in the knees, and as he lost his balance, she spun, striking him in the back with her other foot. He went down, but she didn’t even have time to smile at her victory, because he was up in a flash, and suddenly she was pinned to the side of the ambulance. Conall’s face was a mask of cold fury, his eyes glazed over with frost. “With those markings, I’m guessing you’re here on some business related to the Sem brothers, so that’s why I’m not going to drain you right here, right now. But fuck with me again, and I’m going to get my first taste of Seminus blood.” His forearm was across her throat, his other hand trapping her arm against her side, and his six-foot-six body was holding her so she couldn’t move.

But she couldn’t help but notice the long, lush lashes that framed his feral, intelligent eyes. And the harsh, masculine slope of his jaw. Then there was the promise of raw sex that oozed from every pore, a promise she had no doubt he could deliver on.

Something in her gut began to throb, moving lower the longer she stared at him. Shit. Her hormones were acting up, right on schedule. If she didn’t get a daily dose of sex, she became extremely ill. It was possible, even, that she could die. She’d just never gone long enough to know whether that was actually the case.

This morning she’d been either too distracted or in too much of a hurry to climb into bed with one of the assassins she bunked with, and she was paying for that now, as her raging hormones were quite happy to let her know. But one thing she’d learned over the years was that her hormones didn’t just affect her. They were also good for attracting males… and getting herself out of bad situations with them.

“You want to taste me?” she purred, and his head snapped back. Well, well.

His eyes narrowed. “What are you playing at?”

“Me?” she asked innocently. “Nothing.”

His gaze swept her face before dropping lower, to her exposed throat. The hunger in his expression kicked her pulse into doubletime. And when he pushed back from her, just enough to let his gaze travel lower, to her breasts, her pulse rate tripled.

She wasn’t sure what might have happened next, and she’d never know, because she heard heavy footsteps. When she turned her head, there was another huge male in a paramedic uniform standing near the rear of the truck. His expression was as black as his shaggy hair.

“Conall, man, what are you doing? Shift hasn’t even started and you’re already humping the females. E warned us about sex in public. Take it into the rig.”

Sin snorted. “What makes you think there is going to be sex? I was about to kick this guy’s ass.” Conall had loosened his grip, allowing her to tear free and shove him away. His snort followed her as she pushed past the dark-haired medic and headed for the entrance to the hospital.

She might not want to see her brothers, but better them than a vampire with questionable life signs who, for some reason, made her feel alive when all she wanted was to remain dead.

Conall watched the female take off, her ass swaying temptingly in tight, well-worn jeans. A strategically placed rip pinched and gaped at the crease where her leg and her left ass cheek met, drawing his eyes like a magnet.

Luc watched too, his gaze hot. “She’s…”

“Yeah.”

Luc arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t know there were female Sems.”

“Me either. Think she’s here for business? Like a Council member? Or do you think she’s related to the brothers? Maybe she’s their queen or something.”

“Dunno.” The hundred-year-old warg never said much, and when he did, he mostly grunted. “Ever done a succubus?”

“A couple.” Conall generally avoided succubi, though. You never knew what they were after. Your seed, your soul, your life. Con kind of liked hanging on to the second two.

Luc crossed his arms over his chest and braced one shoulder against the ambulance. “Dare you to do her.”

Conall’s cock stirred. Well, it stirred more. “I’ve never done a Seminus demon.” Conall was all about doing things he’d never done. And in a thousand years of life, he’d done a lot.

“I hope to hell not,” Luc said. “Since until today you thought they were all males.”

Con laughed, even though Luc wasn’t trying to be funny. He liked the warg, which was a miracle considering he’d met Luc in a bar fight—had fought Luc in the bar fight. They’d both ended up in the demon-run hospital Con hadn’t even known existed, and he’d been impressed—and bored—enough to sign on to become a medic. Now he and Luc sometimes worked together. Partners. Not friends—friendly rivals was more like it.

“I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you nail her.”

Con shot him a fuck-you look. “Five.”

“Five hundred?” Luc snorted. “For a succubus? She’ll probably jump you.”

“If she’s related to the Sem brothers, I’m not risking my balls for a hundred bucks.” Luc nodded. “Good point. Five hundred. With proof.” “Done.” Con grinned. This was going to be the easiest money he’d ever made.

Heat still flooding her body, Sin burst through the emergency room doors—and ran into Shade. God, these guys were like fucking Terminators. Or Borg. Resistance is futile and all that shit. It was clear she wasn’t going to shake the Brothers From Hell, so she might as well get what she could from them. “Where’s Eidolon?”

“Probably in his office,” Shade said.

“I want what he promised me. Now. I’m tired of his stall tactics.”

“Why would he stall?”

“Gee, I wonder. Maybe so I’d be forced to hang out here and get to know you guys?”

He sighed, as if she were a child to be humored. “Come on. I’ll take you to his office.”

“About time,” she muttered. She followed him to an administrative area, where they walked through a maze of offices, some separated by cubicles where various male and female demons sat, and some more private—full rooms with doors and hall windows with blinds.

Eidolon was at his desk, and he stood when she and Shade entered his office. He held out a file, as though he’d been expecting her. “Here’s your proof of death. If your boss has any questions, tell him to contact me.”

“Took you long enough.”

“You’re welcome,” he said dryly.

Shade turned to her. “What now?”

“I’m going to turn this in.”

“Are you coming back?”

“I doubt it.” She smiled. “Nice knowing you. Buh-bye.”

“Leaving so soon?” The deep voice came from behind her, startling her. She spun, coming face-to-chest with a tall, blond male she assumed was the one brother she hadn’t met. Wraith.

“Soon?” She stepped back so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to look at him. “I’ve been stuck here for way too long.”

“I thought you went home,” Shade said.

“Forgot my iPod in my office.” His blue eyes flashed at Sin. “Where’s Lore?”

“If I knew, he wouldn’t be missing.”

“He’s probably dead.” Wraith’s tone was matter-of-fact, utterly cool, and Sin wanted to punch him.

“Wraith…” Eidolon’s voice was quiet.

“It’s okay, Eidolon,” she said, still glaring at Wraith. “I can handle anything this guy can dish out.” She started forward. “Get out of my way.”

Wraith’s broad shoulders filled the doorway… and he didn’t move. “Easy there, Smurfette.”

Smurfette? “Move.”

“No.”

She hit him. Put her knuckles right in his perfect nose. He didn’t even flinch, and she got the impression he could have stopped her if he’d wanted to. Instead, he grinned, those wicked fangs gleaming. “You hit like a girl.”

She gasped in outrage. “I. Said. Move. I’m going to find my brother.”

He snorted. “If I can’t find him, you don’t stand a margarita’s chance at an AA meeting.”

“Y-you arrogant ass,” she sputtered.

“It’s not arrogance if you can back it up.”

She was going to kill him. She really was. “You don’t care, do you? You don’t give a shit that the angel chick could be hurting him, doing horrible things to him.” She spun to Shade and looked from him to Eidolon. “See? This is why I didn’t want to get to know you, even though Lore kept saying we should give you a chance.”

“Why would he say that?” Shade asked.

“I have no idea,” she snapped.

Eidolon steepled his long fingers in front of him. “I think you do.”

“And I think you can guess,” she shot back. “How would you like to spend your life alone, stuck in some backwoods North Carolina hovel, thinking you didn’t belong anywhere or with anyone?” She glared at each of them in turn. “When he found out about you, he thought that finally someone might get us. We might get some answers about what we are. But then—” But then I told him to stay away from them.

Oh, God. She’d been so freaked out, so concerned about herself that she’d kept him from the one chance he had to maybe relieve a little of his loneliness. And because of her, his brothers didn’t know him, and they wouldn’t be as willing to cut him some slack over the Kynan thing.

If any of these guys hurt Lore, it would be all her fault.

Nausea washed over her, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Shade frowned and reached for her. Her chest tightened with a claustrophobic sensation. “Hey, why don’t you take a seat.”

She wheeled away, swaying a little. “I have to go.”

Wraith casually braced his shoulder against the door-jamb. “Not happening.”

“I have to find Lore!” Sin slammed her palms into Wraith’s chest. “Move!” Again. “I have to save him.” Again, harder. The guy was a solid wall of muscle. “You have no idea what it’s like to be held captive, tortured—”

His hands circled her wrists. He didn’t hurt her, but his fingers might as well have been iron shackles for all they yielded to her struggles. “I know more about that than you can imagine.” His voice was calm and quiet.

“Let her go, Wraith.” That from Eidolon.

Wraith’s gaze flickered to Shade, who must have nodded, because he released her and stepped aside. As she darted through the doorway, Eidolon called out, “If you find Lore, let us know.”

“I’ll do that,” she called back. When hell freezes over.

Shade took off the moment Sin was gone, without so much as a good-bye. Wraith did the same, and Eidolon wondered when and if this was ever going to end.

Pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off a killer headache, he headed to the emergency department. A male of undetermined species who looked mostly human except for the stubby set of black horns at his temples stood near the triage desk, head bowed and fingers clutching a long rope of beads… some sort of demonic religious artifact, probably.

That would be the exorcist.

Eidolon approached him. “How quickly can you have the hospital cleansed?”

The demon looked up, his hazel eyes swirling with what Eidolon would swear was fear. “It can’t be cleansed.”

“What do you mean, it can’t be cleansed? Why not?”

The demon looked around wildly and lowered his voice as though afraid of being overheard. “Great evil has a hold on the spirits who are trapped here. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Perfect. A chickenshit exorcist. “What is this great evil? Is it another spirit?”

“No. That’s why I can’t perform an exorcism. Whatever is controlling the spirits is a demon, but I cannot tell you who.”

“So who can track down this demon?”

“I know not. But it will not be me.” He shivered. “Great evil. Hatred such as I’ve never felt.” He scurried toward the Harrowgate. “I’ll send you my bill.”

“Thanks for nothing,” Eidolon muttered.

Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to find Runa. Shade and the children were nowhere to be seen, and Runa must have anticipated his question, because she cocked her head toward the ER doors.

“Shade is putting the kids in the car.” She shifted her weight and chewed her lower lip before blurting, “I hate what’s happening between you guys.”

“So do I, Runa. Shade is being impossible—”

Her fierce growl cut him off. “Don’t blame all of this on him.”

His headache was now a sledgehammer against his skull. “I’m trying to keep everyone safe. I’m not choosing Lore over Kynan, no matter what Shade thinks or what he’s told you.”

“What if it comes down to a choice?” Gem’s voice came at him from behind, and he swore silently. Nothing like an ambush to make a shitty day even shittier.

“It won’t. We will find a way to keep Lore from having to kill Ky.”

“I understand how hard this is for you.” Gem’s voice was strained, which given the circumstances, was completely understandable. “You have a new brother and sister you want to protect. But I’m telling you now that if anything happens to Kynan, not even Tayla can protect you from my wrath.”