Passion Unleashed

But as the blood trickled down his neck and back, he knew that their safety was only as good as the moment, because whatever Byzamoth was, he was powerful enough to not only negate the power of Serena’s charm and command an army of demons, but to risk the wrath of both Heaven and Hell.

Wraith stepped through UG’s Harrowgate with Serena still unconscious in his arms. Relief that she had remained out for the journey was tempered by worry that she was, in fact, still out

“Get E and Shade,” he snapped to the nurse at the triage desk, and without slowing, he strode to the nearest exam room. Gently, he lay Serena on the bed. She didn’t even stir. For a moment he stood there, petting her hair, wincing when his hand came away bloody. Dammit, where were his brothers?

The curtain swept open and Dr. Shakvhan entered. “She’s human?”

“Last time I checked. Where’s E?”

“I’m on duty today.”

“I didn’t ask if you were on duty,” Wraith said. “I want my brothers.”

The curvy succubus sniffed haughtily, ignoring him as she began a vitals check. Even if it wasn’t physically impossible for succubi and incubi to screw, he wouldn’t touch her. In the dictionary, the word “bitch” ran and hid from her.

“How long has she been unconscious?”

“Five minutes, maybe.”

“Her name?”

“Serena.”

Shakvhan peered into Serena’s face. “Serena? Can you hear me?”

Serena’s lids fluttered, and she moaned. Not the greatest sign, but better than nothing.

“Wraith.” E moved inside, dressed in khakis and a black button-down shirt, which meant he’d been working in his office today. “What happened?” He frowned and reached for Wraith’s neck. “You’re bleeding.”

Wraith pushed E’s hand away. “We’ll deal with me later. Serena needs help.”

“You know I don’t like having humans here,” E said, moving to her.

“I don’t give a f**k. Where’s Shade?”

“On his way. The ambulance was just pulling into the parking garage when I got the triage nurse’s page.”

The succubus rattled off vitals, ending with “GCS of eight.”

Eight. Wraith had been on enough ambulance runs to know that eight and below on the Glasgow Coma Scale indicated a severe brain injury. His gut knotted with helplessness.

Eidolon started an IV. “Thanks, I got it.”

Shakvhan shrugged and sauntered away, and Wraith yanked the curtain closed. “We were attacked by demons on Philae. While I was fighting, she took a hit.”

E looked up from inspecting Serena’s head wound, his expression one of relief. “You slept with her.”

“No. That’s the thing. Nothing should have been able to touch her, right?”

“Dammit,” E breathed. “Someone else got to her.”

“That’s impossible.”

“There’s no other explanation, Wraith.”

The heavy strike of boots on the stone floor announced Shade’s arrival, and the curtain swished open. “What’s going on?”

E’s dark brows drew together. “Head injury. I need you to do a system check and see how bad.”

“This is Wraith’s charmed human?”

“Except for the charmed part.”

Wraith snarled. “She’s still charmed.”

E gave him a look edged with doubt and called out to the triage nurse to find Gem. He turned back to Shade, who had palmed Serena’s forehead and closed his eyes. His dermoire glowed as his gift flowed from him to Serena, and it took every ounce of patience Wraith had to keep from interrupting with questions.

Finally, Shade opened his eyes. “No skull fracture, but she’s got a substantial subdural hematoma. I’m slowing the bleeding, but E, you’re going to have to fix it.”

“It won’t require surgery, will it?” Wraith asked. E could repair injuries, but only if he could touch them. If Serena had to go under the knife, she’d be in the hospital for an extended period of time, and explaining the situation would require some creative lies.

“Hope not. We keep losing power, and I’d hate to be in the middle of brain surgery and have it happen again. Not to mention the fact that brain surgery isn’t my specialty.” E blew out a breath. “I can summon a general healing wave, see if that works.”

“I’ll monitor the injury and blood flow while you do it.” Shade closed his eyes again.

Wraith watched as E grasped Serena’s arm, his dermoire glowing as bright as Shade’s. He heard someone approach, sensed Gem before he saw her. She stood quietly next to him.

Gradually, both Shade’s and Eidolon’s dermoires stopped glowing.

“Well?”

Shade exchanged glances with Eidolon. “I think you got it. We should get a CT scan though, just to make sure.”

“Josh?”

Everyone’s heads whipped around to Serena, who watched Wraith through half-lidded, cloudy eyes.

Shit. Wraith clamped his hand down on her wrist and slammed his gift into her head, taking her consciousness to a beach. A skimpy swimsuit, clear ocean waters, and she was set. He didn’t insert himself into the fantasy--dream—doing so would require too much concentration, and he needed to focus on what was going on around them in the hospital.

“Someone sedate her,” he said, his voice rough and low with the effort he was expending to talk while keeping the fantasy going. “We can’t let her see too much. And I need to get her back through the Harrowgate.”

Eidolon was already on it, was preparing to inject meds into her IV line. “So… Josh?”

Heat scorched Wraith’s cheeks. “Long story.”

Once the sedative had been injected, Shade palmed her forehead again. “She’s out.”

Gratefully, Wraith pulled out of her mind. “She’s okay?”

“She’s going to wake up with one hell of a headache, but she should be fine,” E said.

Gem gestured to Serena. “So why am I here?”

E kept his gaze on Wraith as he talked to Gem. “You’re here to confirm Serena’s virginity.”

“Or lack of,” Shade muttered.

“I told you…” Wraith growled.

“Yeah, I know. But can you say with one hundred percent certainty that she didn’t give it up to someone else? Or maybe some sort of incubus put a spell on her and took her while she was sleeping. We can’t be sure. She got hurt, and that shouldn’t have happened. Which probably means she’s no longer a virgin. And if that’s the case, you’re wasting valuable time with her.”

“It hasn’t been—” Wraith snapped his mouth shut before he said something stupid.

Fuck.

“Hasn’t been what?” Shade’s smirk said he knew exactly what Wraith had been about to say.

“Nothing.” Wraith’s heart kicked in his chest as he looked at Serena, lying so still in the bed. “I just don’t want Gem poking around.”

“Would you rather I did it?” E asked.

“Hell no!” Wraith drew in a deep breath, which didn’t do nearly enough to calm him. He seriously needed to get a grip. Maybe her virginity had been taken, but the charm only partially transferred. Clearly, Byzamoth had done something to Serena. “Fine. But make it fast. And you two?” He gestured to his brothers. “You wait outside.”

Shade strode past, and E clapped Wraith on the shoulder. “Come with us. We need to talk.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Outside the room, Wraith paced, unsure what he was more nervous about—Serena’s possible lack of virginity, her health, or the fact that some mad demon was after her. Had hurt her. Man, he really wanted to cause Byzamoth a whole lot of hurt, because some weird possessive instinct had come over him, and fighting it was starting to feel like a waste of time and energy.

Both of which he was short on.

Eidolon crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

“We were on the Island of Philae. Looking for some tablet that can be used to shut down the Harrowgates.”

“Ah, not cool,” Shade said.

“Duh.” Wraith reached up to rub the back of his neck, wincing when he discovered the gash there. Immediately, E replaced Wraith’s hand with his own and channeled a healing wave into the wound.

Pain shot straight up Wraith’s vertebrae and into his skull. E’s healing gift often caused extreme discomfort, even as it healed. When it was done Eidolon backed off.

“Better?” When Wraith nodded, E propped himself against the wall again. “Back to Philae,” he prompted.

“Right.” Wraith resumed pacing. “I sensed demonic presences the moment we stepped onto the island. The Harrowgate had been used. A lot.”

“Philae is a place of worship for several species, right?”

“Yep, so I wasn’t too concerned at first. Which should have been a f**king clue, because I’m always concerned.”

Shade looked up from checking his cell phone, probably making sure Runa hadn’t tried to contact him. Those two were connected at the hip. If she didn’t force him to go to work, he’d never leave their home. “So was the attack directed at you?”

“Why would it be directed at me?”

Shade rolled his eyes. “Like it’s so out of the realm of possibility that someone would attack you. You know how you’re always making friends.”

“You’re a riot,” Wraith said. “But the guy who hurt her was the same dude who was talking to Serena when I arrived in Alexandria the first night, and who later showed up at the Hall of Caracalla. This is definitely about her.” He shook his head. “I thought it might be about the artifacts she was after, but it’s too coincidental that she’s being stalked by a guy who can hurt her.”