Desire Unchained

The gods had answered, and he wasn’t going to disappoint. He caught Roag’s arm as his brother hit the cage door. The bars were narrow and his body was fading; he had little chance against Roag, but dammit, he was going to f**k up his big brother as much as he could.

“Family!” Runa’s voice cut through sounds of fighting as he yanked Roag against the cage so hard Roag’s skull cracked against a bar. “Your curse! Arik!”

Runa was making no sense. “What?”

He could hear the harsh rasp of her pained breaths as she struggled to her feet next to the altar Roag had put her on. “He found another translation for your curse. Loved one … or family.”

He’d been over this with Wraith. He could be rid of the Maluncoeur only if he transferred it to a loved one …

Family. Or … family …

Hell’s bones, could it be true? He didn’t take the time to think further. He had hold of Roag, and even as his brother started to slip from his grasp, he uttered the words Wraith had wanted him to say.

“Solumaya. Orentus. Kraktuse!”

Nothing happened. Fuck.

And then, the air between Shade and Roag began to vibrate. Slowly, Shade’s body grew solid, and parts of Roag flashed so milky-transparent that through it, Shade could see Runa’s stumbling approach. Yes! Excitement renewed his strength, and he held tight to Roag, who didn’t seem to notice that he now carried Shade’s curse.

Runa snared the key from Roag’s belt and leaped back as he swiped at her. One of Roag’s minions lunged for Runa, but Gem caught the lizardlike creature around the throat and slammed it to the ground.

“Release Eidolon,” Shade shouted to Runa. He was holding Roag too close to the door of his own cage. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt.

Once free, Eidolon put Roag on the ground with a fist to the face, and then dashed to Tayla as Runa unlocked Shade’s cage. He burst out. Roag’s minions advanced, and Roag regained his footing. In a single, smooth motion, Shade braced Runa against the cage and yanked the silver bar out of her shoulder, her strangled cry tearing through him.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. His fingers found the wound, and he wished he had Eidolon’s gift to heal, but all he could do in the split second they had was stimulate the release of endorphins to ease her pain.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Behind you!”

Spinning, he jammed the heel of his palm into Roag’s throat. He’d love to pound the sonofabitch into a pulp, but they needed Wraith’s fighting skills. He released his younger brother and stood back. With a snarl, Wraith tore through Roag’s team like a knife through tissue paper.

A huge body slammed into Shade from the side. Caught off guard, he lurched into the wall and suddenly was fighting for his life. The demon was strong, far stronger than Shade. It gripped his throat with humanlike hands and used its wings to help steady itself as it tried to squeeze the life out of Shade.

A fallen angel. Gods, what was Roag doing with a fallen f**king angel in his castle?

The angel smiled at Shade’s futile struggles. And then, all he saw was fangs and blood. Runa, in her warg form, had ripped one of the angel’s wings off its body.

The angel wheeled away, and when Runa made to give chase, Shade grabbed her by the scruff. “Down, girl. They’re almost impossible to kill. Let him go.”

Roag’s agonized scream carried over the sound of battle. He was staring in horror at his hands. Oh, yeah, Roag had discovered the curse. His gaze locked on Eidolon, who was bent over Tayla, his dermoire glowing as he healed his mate.

Roag was going to transfer the curse to E.

Shade yanked a battle ax off the wall. In two strides, he was in striking distance.

Of Sheryen.

Roag reached for Eidolon. Shade swung. “This is for Skulk, you sonofabitch.”

Sheryen’s head separated from her body with a soft whisper. Roag pivoted around, his forward momentum knocking him into Eidolon.

“Sher!” Roag screamed, and for the first time ever, Shade saw genuine pain in his brother’s eyes. Roag kept screaming, and gradually, his voice, and his body, faded into nothingness.

“And that,” Shade said softly, “was for all of us.”

It was over. With Roag gone, his minions no longer held together. Some lost their courage and became easy prey for Gem, Kynan, and the hospital staff, and the rest fled. Wraith, probably more than half insane with bloodlust and the need for revenge, pursued, disappearing up the winding staircase.

Runa shifted, and Shade hauled her nude body against his. “You okay? I’ll get E to heal your injuries.”

“I can wait. Others need help more than I do.”

Shade glanced at E. “How is she?”

Tayla stood, brushing herself off. When many demons shifted, they retained their clothes, and Tayla was one of those fortunate species. “I’m fine. Good as new.”

Eidolon seemed as reluctant to leave Tayla’s side as Shade was to leave Runa’s, but several hospital staff members who’d come to the rescue were in bad shape. Still, Shade took the time to kiss Runa, a lingering, hot meeting of mouths that promised more later. He owed her so much, and he’d spend the rest of his life making up to her what he—and Roag—had done.

Kicking into medic mode, he broke away from her. Some of the injuries were severe enough that Shade had to dip into the medic kit Kynan had brought. Fortunately, since everyone except Runa was a medical professional in some capacity, triage went quickly, though they did lose one physician assistant, a lion shapeshifter who’d been on staff for nearly ten years. Walking woundeds took the more severely injured to the Harrowgate for transfer to the hospital. By the time Shade and Eidolon had done all they could, they were both exhausted.

Someone had raided the rooms in the castle and brought down some of the sacklike tunics Roag’s minions wore, so Runa and Shade donned them while Eidolon used the last of his energy to heal Runa, Gem, and Kynan, and when he was done, Shade made him take a seat on a wooden stool before he fell over. Tayla crawled into his lap and wrapped herself around him.

“Got all the bastards.” Wraith stumbled out of the stairwell, a mass of blood and gaping wounds. “And Solice.” He swayed and hit the stone floor with a crack of kneecaps. “That bitch.”

“Shit.”

Shade darted to him. He and E reached their brother at the same time, each grasping one shoulder to hold him up, and both sending waves of their power into him. Eidolon’s energy began to knit the massive injuries together, but the process was slow … E was drained. Cursing softly, Shade probed for internal injuries. Fortunately, Wraith’s organs were intact, but he was dangerously low on blood. His head hung so his chin touched his chest and his long hair concealed his face, and Shade wondered if Wraith was too weak to lift it.

“He needs to feed,” Shade said, coming to his feet. “Now.”

Straw on the floor stirred in the cold drafts and the silence. Gem stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”

An erotic swirl of lust spun up like a breeze from Wraith, and E raised an eyebrow. “You prepared for that? Because you’ll be beneath him with him inside you in about five seconds after he starts feeding.”

She swallowed, but nodded. “It’s not like I’m a virgin or anything.” There seemed to be some subtext there, but f**k if Shade knew what it was.

“No.” Kynan moved forward and knelt in front of Wraith. “I’ll do it. He’s fed from me before.”

E stood and shot Shade a look of surprise that had to match Shade’s own. When the hell had Wraith taken Kynan’s blood? And why? He couldn’t imagine Kynan allowing it, but Gem didn’t seem surprised. Maybe … nah. Seminus demons didn’t do males—they could reach orgasm only with a female. Though he supposed a Sem could screw around with a male as long as a female was present. So had Gem, Ky, and Wraith …

Shade shook his head, needing to clear it. His mind was taking him places he did not want to go.

“Will he still need sex?” Runa asked, and Shade nodded.

“Best to have both at the same time, but if he can get blood now, we can find him a female at the hospital.”

They backed away as Kynan rolled up his sleeve and offered Wraith his wrist. Wraith’s nostrils flared, and before Shade could shout a warning, Wraith sank his fangs into the human’s throat. Kynan flailed, convulsed once, and then relaxed.

“I’ll bet he doesn’t volunteer to do that again,” Shade muttered.

After a few minutes, Gem knelt next to Wraith, who growled at her, his gold eyes viewing her as a threat to his food.

“Easy there,” she said softly, as she took Kynan’s wrist. “Wraith, you need to stop.”

Wraith jerked Kynan closer, taking long, powerful pulls as though trying to ingest as much nourishment as possible before his meal was taken away.

Shade felt for Kynan’s pulse on the other side of his neck. It was fast, too fast, and weak. He probed with his power, and yep, the human was too low on blood for comfort.

“Stop, bro. Now.”

Wraith sucked harder. Eidolon grasped Wraith’s shoulder and tugged him back.

“Dammit, you’re killing him.” E cuffed the back of Wraith’s head. “You’re going to kill Kynan. Wraith!”

The gold in Wraith’s eyes faded, replaced by electric blue. He disengaged his fangs, blinking as he came out of his bloodlust. Kynan sank to the ground, way pale and way unconscious.

“Hypovolemic shock.” Shade caught Kynan’s head before it hit the floor. “We need to get him to the hospital.” He shoved his arms beneath Ky’s limp body, but Wraith locked his hand around Shade’s wrist.

“I’ll carry him.” The determination in Wraith’s voice left no room for argument. His brother needed to do this.

“Fine,” Shade said, “but step on it.”

Chapter 22

Kynan lay unconscious in the hospital bed, hooked up to an IV delivering B-positive blood. Shade stood quietly at the foot of Ky’s bed, Runa at his side. Wraith sat close to the rails, head in hands and looking as if he’d been through the Neethul slave pits a few times.