“I’m not. But I try to buy local when I can.” She lifted one leg to show off her boot. “Italian leather. Love it.”
He did, too. The way it hugged her calves. Made her legs go on forever. He let out an appreciative whistle as he dragged his gaze up. “Where do you get your money, anyway?”
She shrugged. “I think about it, and it’s there.”
“Must be nice.” Nice to not have to kill people for it. So much for assassin mode. God, Idess was hell on his discipline.
She nodded vehemently. “It is.”
The front door crashed open. Whirling, Lore put himself in front of Idess, a dagger in one hand and a pistol in the other.
“Hey, there, brother,” Wraith said, in a deceptively calm drawl. Deceptive, because the demon’s body language—his clenched fists, coiled body, and red-flecked gold eyes—said he was ready to cause some damage. And oh, great, Kynan was with him, looking even more pissed off than Wraith.
Instantly, Idess came around to put herself between Lore and Kynan. Not happening. All of Lore’s protective instincts came to bear, and with a snarl, he pushed her behind him again. She might not want to stay with him, but until she got her damned wings, she was his, and no one was going to f**k with her.
She poofed right back to where she’d been, damn her.
“Kynan, you shouldn’t be here,” she said, standing in the middle of the living room, hands on hips.
“No?” He glared at Lore. “I’m what he wants, right? So here I am. Give Wraith the baby.”
“I don’t have Shade’s kid.”
Wraith bared his fangs. “You’d better, because if you’ve left him with anyone other than Mary f**king Poppins, there won’t be enough left of you to fill a juice glass.”
“You deaf? I don’t have him.” Lore holstered his weapons before he killed his brother. Sure, he wanted to kill Kynan, but he’d do that with his bare hand.
“He’s telling the truth.” Not backing down at all, Idess folded her arms over her chest. “I’ve been with him.”
Wraith snarled. “Even when he was being tortured? Because he looks pretty damned good for a tortured man.”
“I was healed, you idiot.”
“Call me that again.” Grinning, Wraith flexed his fingers. “Seriously.”
Lore stepped forward. “Idiot.”
Kynan came at him. Lore angled his right side away, not ready to kill the bastard yet, and the move cost him. Cost him a fist to the face. Pain burst behind his eyes, and he wheeled around, too angry to think, and caught the human with his right hand—which got him a jab to the ribs. What the fuck? Why hadn’t the guy dropped dead?
… I drain the death out of them. Idess’s words popped into his mind just before the right hook that laid him out.
Lore came to his feet before Kynan could kick him, and Jesus, Wraith was grinning, and Idess was watching with her arms crossed, foot tapping, and just looking annoyed. Obviously, without his power, Lore was no mortal threat to Kynan. And Kynan was out to cause pain, not death.
Making it all even more fun was the fact that no matter how hard Lore tried to cripple Kynan, something always went wrong. He couldn’t land a single punch or kick. Kynan was merciless, using Lore’s failures against him.
Lore took a nice beating before finally Idess flashed between them and heaved them apart with her incredible strength.
“Enough!”
Panting, he and Kynan glared at each other. Wraith stepped forward. “If you two are done—”
“We’re not,” they said simultaneously.
“For now, you are,” he growled. “We have a kid to find.” He yanked Lore to him. Lore took a swing, lost his balance, and stumbled without ever striking his brother. “I’m charmed, dickhead. Just like Kynan. You can’t hurt me. And apparently you can’t kill Ky with your touch. Guess we don’t have to worry about you anymore.”
“That’s not true,” Idess said. “I believe it’s temporary. His ability to kill should return soon.”
Lore hoped that would be before the deadline. His assassin-bond throbbed, marking time that was clipping along in fast-forward.
“How did that happen?” Wraith asked.
“I drained him.”
Wraith arched an eyebrow at her. “I’ll bet you did.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not like that.” Might have been believable, too, if she hadn’t pinked up, because she had drained him like that.
Wraith gave a dubious snort, and Idess shook her head. “I still can’t believe that you saved the world.”
“I know, right?” Wraith turned back to Lore. “So where’s Rade?”
“I told you. I don’t have him. But we have a lead. Possible fallen angel named Rariel. Sin’s hunting him right now.” Lore checked his watch, and his heart tripped. She was five minutes late. Sin was never late without calling.
Lore expected Wraith to scoff, to call him a liar, to hit him. Anything but nod. “You can prove it.”
It wasn’t a question, and Lore scowled. “Not really.”
“Yes,” he said, “you can.” Suddenly, Wraith was behind him, his thick arm wrapped around Lore’s neck, and Lore was… well, he wasn’t sure where he was. His memories flipped through his mind like a shuffled deck of cards, and then he was standing in his house again, a little dizzy, and Wraith was several feet away.
“Fuck me,” Wraith muttered. “He’s telling the truth.”
“What the hell just happened?” Lore shouted.
Kynan smirked. “You just got a taste of Wraith’s mind-fuck.”
Ah. Lore hadn’t expected Wraith’s gift for getting inside heads to be so intrusive and unsettling. “You dick.”
“Seriously?” Wraith asked. “That’s all you got? Dick? Idiot? Your sister pops better insults than you do.”
“She’s your sister, too,” Lore pointed out, more to gauge Wraith’s reaction than anything.
Wraith grinned. “E says she’s like a female version of me. Cool.”
“No, not cool,” Lore growled. “So now you know I didn’t snatch the kid, you’re going to haul ass out of my face, right?”
“Slow down there, Mario,” Wraith said. “You’re still planning to kill Kynan.”
Idess crossed to Lore. “No, he’s not.”
Inside Lore’s chest, something shriveled a little at her defense of him, because he would still do what he had to in order to save his sister. Yes, Idess would lose her wings and have to stay on earth. But she wouldn’t die. And… she’d be able to stay with him.
“I was in Lore’s head, Halo. I know what he was thinking.” Wraith’s eyes went wide with sudden knowledge. “Sin will die if you don’t. Ah, fuck.”
Kynan scowled at Wraith. “Are you serious?”
Lore nodded. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to kill you for shits and grins? Not that it wouldn’t be fun,” he added.
Kynan snorted. “Do you think it’s this Rariel guy who wants me dead?”
“Him… and Roag.”
“Yeah,” Wraith said. “E mentioned that. Shade thinks you’re working together.”
“Just when I thought Shade couldn’t think any worse of me,” Lore muttered.
“We’ve got to find Rariel,” Kynan said, f**king king of State the Obvious.
A cell phone buzzed, and Wraith dug into his pocket. “’Sup, E?” Wraith listened for a second, and hung up with a strained curse. “We gotta go, Ky. It’s Gem.”
Kynan lost all the color in his face. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
Baby?
“She was attacked,” Wraith said. “She was attacked inside the hospital.”
Twenty-one
Idess flashed Lore to UG’s parking lot. They ran inside, where at least two dozen spirits were in a frenzy, attacking the walls, wailing, and cowering in corners. Eidolon was standing at the triage desk, and the second he saw Lore, his eyes went crimson and he made like a charging tiger.
“No!” Idess rushed forward and slammed her palms into his chest. “Lore didn’t attack Shade’s mate, and he doesn’t have the baby. Wraith will be here in a moment. He’ll confirm it.”
Speak of the demon, the Harrowgate shimmered, and Wraith darted out of it, right behind Kynan. Kynan, as a human, shouldn’t have been able to travel through the Harrowgates unless he was unconscious, but his charmed status protected him from certain death.
“What happened? Where’s Gem?”
“Exam one,” Eidolon said. “She was found unconscious and bleeding from a head wound in the staff lounge.”
“Did the Haven spell go down?” Wraith asked.
“Nope.”
Idess sucked in a breath. “It was the ghosts.”
“Mother. Fuck.” Wraith snarled. “This is the one place that should be safe from the sonofabitch who attacked Runa, and we have f**king ghosts to worry about. Are Serena and Stewie still here?”
Eidolon nodded. “They’re with Tay in my office.”
“I’m taking them home. Not letting them out of my sight.” He jerked his thumb at Lore. “Big bro here wasn’t responsible for Runa and Rade. Some asswipe named Rariel is.”
Eidolon let out a long breath. “You’ll need to tell Shade. He won’t listen to me.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s at the cave with Runa and the boys. It’s too risky to have them here when we have diseased wargs coming in.”
Diseased wargs?
“He should be safe then. I’m outta here.” Wraith took off down the hall at a jog, running right through one of the spirits, who cried out loud enough for Idess to wince.
Eidolon scrubbed a hand over his face and turned to Lore. “Where have you been?”
“Oh, hey, don’t worry about apologizing for thinking I attacked my sister-in-law and stole my nephew or anything.”
A muscle in Eidolon’s jaw twitched, and Idess had a feeling he was trying to keep his temper in check.
“Your dagger was buried in her gut, and the message given to her was to turn over Kynan. What were we supposed to think? You are trying to kill the guy. For money.”
“For his sister,” Idess said tightly. She was tired of these guys’ blaming Lore, hating him, fighting him. “Sin will die if Lore doesn’t do it.”
“Fuck.” Eidolon’s dark eyes, so like Lore’s, cut to his brother. “How do you plan to get out of it?” The doctor’s voice was cool, professional, and just flat enough to give away how hard he was trying to hide his concern for his siblings’ situations.
“We need to find Rariel. He’s got to be behind the contract. Kill him, and the contract is void.”
“And what about the ghosts?” Eidolon asked. “This is all too much of a coincidence to think it isn’t related.”
Idess tore her attention away from two spirits near the Harrowgate who were clawing at the posts, their desperate attempts to get the gate to work heartbreaking. “It’s Roag. He’s terrifying the spirits.” She scanned the room, and sure enough, at the junction of two hallways, the dark phantom lurked, still wrapped in a cloak, menace emanating from him in a roiling cloud.
As Idess moved toward the demon, the Harrowgate flashed, and suddenly, a new sensation washed over her. Familiar. But warped, like a favorite song playing on the wrong speed. Her skin wanted to crawl right off her.
“Does the Harrowgate do that a lot? Flash, but nothing comes out?”
“Lately, yeah,” Eidolon said. “It’s weird.”
The familiarity washed over her again, and tears sprang to her eyes. Lore grabbed her. “Idess? Cookie? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t… I can’t explain it. It feels like Rami. And pain.”
“Oh, dear sister,” came an all-too-familiar voice behind her. “How I love causing you pain.”
* * *
Lore caught Idess as she collapsed. She’d gone as white as the ghosts she’d talked about, and though she struggled weakly to stand on her own again, she didn’t take her eyes off Rariel.
But… dear sister?
Lore kept Idess close, holding her tight against him. “Where is Rade?”
At the infant’s name, Eidolon stiffened. “This is the f**k who took my nephew?”
“No,” Idess whispered. “It can’t be. Rami… no.”
“Rami?” Lore gritted out. “As in, the brother who Ascended?”
“She told you about me?” Smiling, the male jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m flattered.”
In Lore’s arms, Idess trembled. “How is this possible?”
“Obviously, baby sister, I fell. Because of you.”
“How? Why?” She shrugged off Lore’s grip but remained next to him.
“Dumb bitch,” he hissed, and Lore had to hold himself back from braining the fucker, Haven spell or no. “You betrayed me. You ruined me.”
Staff members began to close in, all looking expectantly at Eidolon as though waiting for an order.
“What I did,” Idess said, “was terrible. I’ll do whatever you want to make up for it. Just don’t hurt the child.”
Both Lore and Eidolon simultaneously growled, “Where is he?”
“The whelp is… safe. Relatively.” Rami rolled his shoulders, making his muscles bunch tight beneath his black tee. “Your sister, however…”