Wraith’s eyes narrowed, and he waved a hand in front of Shade’s face. “E? Did you order a CT scan? Did he hit his head?”

Shade swatted his brother’s hand away. “Roag lives. And he’s more twisted than ever. He’s been behind the black market operation for the last couple of years.”

Eidolon went taut, his expression haunted. Wraith took a second longer to absorb the announcement, but when he did … shit. Shade had never seen his brother go so deathly white.

“Not funny, Shade.” Wraith’s voice was a harsh growl. “Not. Fucking. Funny.”

“Do you see me laughing?” Shade exhaled slowly, needing a moment to make sure he could keep his shit together, mainly because as unstable as Wraith was on a good day, this could get real ugly, real fast. “Roag survived the fire. I don’t know how. He’s damaged—skin like beef jerky, no nose, missing half his fingers.”

Eidolon, ever the logical one, shook his head. “We felt him die. We’d feel him if he was alive.”

“His death severed the connection,” Shade said, “but when he was resuscitated, the connection wasn’t.”

“How was he resuscitated? By whom?” Wraith dug one hand into his jeans’ pocket, and Shade knew he was comforting himself by feeling up one of his weapons. His brother was never unarmed, not when he was sleeping, f**king, not even in the safety of the hospital. No doubt there were a half-dozen more blades concealed on his body.

“Solice. She was there, with Roag. No doubt she’s been spying for him.” Shade clenched his fists at the memory of how she’d gone down on her knees and tortured the hell out of him in the dungeon.

“Solice?” Wraith’s lip curled into a nasty snarl. “She’s so fired. Like, with real fire.”

Eidolon was totally revved, grinding his teeth, tugging on his stethoscope. “This doesn’t add up. He was massively touched in the head, but why would he want to hurt you? And Skulk?”

“He killed Skulk to torture me. The rest … he thinks we’re responsible for the fire at Brimstone. He wants revenge.”

Wraith’s eyes shot wide open, and E shook his head. “The Aegis did it.”

“I know, but he’s convinced we wanted him dead.”

“I sure as hell want him dead,” Wraith ground out.

“You won’t get an argument from me.” Shade pegged E with a look, daring him to disagree, but his brother only nodded.

Wraith paced in a circle, his boots striking the obsidian floor so hard Shade expected to see sparks. “You say Roag forced you and Runa to bond?”

“He made us think we were dreaming.”

E cursed. “He really is sick. He knows that if you have a female tethered to you, you’ll fall for her.”

“And activate the curse.” Wraith wheeled around. “It’s an easy fix. We just kill Runa—”

A low growl erupted in the room. The writing on the walls began to pulse, and Shade realized the noise and aggression was coming from him.

“Easy, Shade,” E said. “You know Wraith is right.”

Yeah, he knew that. But the fierce, possessive instinct to protect his mate was burning inside him.

“I’ll do it.” Wraith’s voice was hard, decisive. “Where is she?”

Shade was in his brother’s face so fast he didn’t remember getting there. “Touch her, and I’ll lay you out like roadkill.”

Wraith held up his hands, smiled with a flash of fangs. “See? This is why I’m never, ever bonding with a female. Makes you stupid.” He shot a meaningful glance at Eidolon. “Or pu**ywhipped.”

Pissed as Shade was, he had to give Wraith that one. Not that Eidolon being whipped was a bad thing. His mate, Tayla, had kept him from going insane, but she also had him wrapped around her slender little slayer finger. When she crooked it, he came.

Pun intended.

“Shade,” Eidolon said softly, “would it be easier if Tayla did it? Tonight, after Runa changes?”

“No!” Shade backed away from Wraith, ran his hands through his hair, and left them clutching his skull as if doing so would help him keep his head on straight. “Nothing will make it easier. You think I want to know that Wraith is getting off on killing my mate or that your slayer is beating the hell out of her?”

E nodded as if he got that. “I can do it. I’ll sedate her first. She won’t feel a thing.”

Anguish twisted Shade’s gut, and he dropped his hands. His body and emotions were so tweaked out. “That’s not like you, offering to kill someone.” Then again, it was the logical thing to do, and E was all about logic.

“Better her than you.” Eidolon’s dark gaze sharpened. “I won’t risk losing you, Shade. Not to that curse. We’ve already got the werewolf thing to deal with, on top of your impending s’genesis.”

The s’genesis that was clawing at him even now. He could feel the throbbing in his throat, right above where his mated mark had set into his skin. His groin throbbed in time with his neck, and he knew he’d need to be with Runa, and soon.

“No one touches her until I’ve gone through it,” he growled. “Having a mate will make it easier, and with the lycanthropy complications …” What a nightmare. If s’genesis struck during a full moon, he could only imagine the horrors he’d inflict on the females he’d attack for sex.

Eidolon blew out a breath. “I agree that it makes sense to wait, but you’re taking a chance.”

“I’m not going to fall in love with her anytime soon, bro. She’s annoying as hell. I have time.”

“I don’t like it,” Wraith said.

Shade snorted. “You just want an excuse to kill her.”

Wraith didn’t deny it. “How did she infect you, anyway?”

His body cramped, as though it remembered the agony he’d been in when he’d begged Runa to hurt him.

“She shifted to bite me.” He frowned. “She can shift at will. She doesn’t need the full moon.”

Eidolon started. “How is that possible?”

“She doesn’t know.”

“This isn’t good, Shade. Were-beast infections are human diseases. We’re not meant to catch them. Who knows what the lycanthropy is doing to your body. And what happens during a full moon when you need sex? You could rip your partner apart.”

“I’ll have Runa.”

“For now.”

Shade clenched his fists and changed the subject. “Maybe you should run some tests on her.” The tests might reveal why she didn’t sport the mating markings, too. Though that was something he’d keep to himself for now.

“Good idea.”

Wraith picked up a scalpel from a nearby tray and tested the edge with his thumb. “You two are acting like she’ll be alive long enough to find out what’s wrong with her. Are you forgetting that she needs to die, and the sooner the better?”

Shade’s hackles raised. “You’re a little too eager to put her in the ground, brother.”

Eidolon stepped between them. “I need to see Runa. If she can shift at will, she might have some unique antibodies to the lycanthropic infection. If I could isolate what makes her different—”

“You might be able to develop a cure for me,” Shade murmured.

“Exactly.”

Shade tried to ignore the sense of relief that took pressure off his chest, tried to pretend the relief was due to the fact that he might be cured of his lycanthropy and not that Runa had been given a temporary reprieve.

The relief didn’t last long though. A wrenching, agonizing sensation slammed into his midsection, and his skin screamed as though he were being pricked by a million needles.

“Shade?” Wraith’s voice vibrated with alarm. “What is it?”

He heard the scalpel clatter to the floor and felt two sets of hands on his arms, felt his body being braced between his brothers’ large, sturdy frames.

“I’m okay,” he breathed. “It’s Runa. I felt her shift back. Burn of re-entry, I guess.” He shuddered as the sensations eased away, was suddenly very glad he’d been drugged for his transformation. “She’s hungry.” A stirring in his groin told him food wasn’t all she craved.

Hell’s teeth.

“Go to her,” E said, in a tone that said he knew exactly what was going on. “Bring her in later.”

Shade pulled in a ragged breath. “We need to deal with Roag. He’s after us, and he might have more spies in the hospital. And Runa killed his female. He’ll be after her, too.”

“I still can’t believe he’s alive.” Eidolon picked up Shade’s chart and tucked it under his arm. “Do you know where you were being held?”

“It was a castle. Ireland, I think.”

Wraith bared his fangs. “I’ll find it. I swear to you, I’ll nail his ass to the wall.”

Shade nodded. If anyone could find Roag, Wraith could. His job at UG was to research, locate, and retrieve rare artifacts, spells … anything that might come in handy during the course of treating demons. He had experience, instinct, and single-minded focus that couldn’t be easily broken. When he wanted something, he got it.

“Be careful, bro. Roag has always had a real hard-on when it comes to you.” And speaking of hard-ons, Shade’s punched painfully against his scrub bottoms. He needed to get to Runa.

“That’s flattering,” Wraith said wryly, “but he’s still going to die.”

The door whispered open, and Ciska entered. “Doc E? We have a new trauma patient in the ER. Gem is asking for your assistance.”

“Got it.” Eidolon slapped a hand on Shade’s back as he passed. “Go to Runa. When you bring her in, we’ll get this figured out.” He disappeared down the hall, but before Ciska could follow, Shade stopped her.

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