Ecstasy Unveiled

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 fucking 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 fuck 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…”

The air exploded from Lore’s lungs in a painful rush. “What did you do to her?”

Rami bared his teeth. “Fun with razor wire. Now I have a cave to visit.” He paused, offering a fake frown at Eidolon, whose expression had iced over. “Oh, you thought I didn’t know about Shade’s cave or how to get there? Roag is a treasure chest of information.”

Lore launched at the fallen angel. Rami snapped his fingers in drama queen fashion, and Lore’s hand closed on empty air. “How can he flash out of here?”

“He can’t!” Idess raced toward the Harrowgate. “But he can go invisible—” The gate closed, and she skidded to a stop. “He’s gone. Son of a bitch, he’s gone.”

Eidolon fumbled for his cell phone. His fingers shook as he mashed the buttons. “Come on, Shade. Answer. Answer…” He waited, and then, “Shade! Get out of there. Don’t hang up… fuck!” He dialed again, pacing madly and cursing. Then, with a vicious snarl, he hurled his phone against the wall. Bits of plastic and electronic guts exploded into the air.

“We have to go to them,” Lore said.

“I know.” Eidolon ducked behind the triage desk and hit a button. “Medics to the ER, Code Green.”

Almost instantly, two male paramedics jogged through a door near the parking lot exit, bags slung over their shoulders. The blond male with silver eyes stopped in front of Eidolon, who gestured for them to follow.

Tears shimmered in Idess’s eyes. “This isn’t your fault,” Lore said as he brushed his lips over hers. He took her hand in his gloved one and entered the gate with Eidolon and the medics. The gate opened up in a steamy jungle, and Eidolon took off at a sprint down a sun-dappled trail.

They followed at a dead run. Branches slapped at their faces and roots and vines seemed to reach up out of the ground to grab them, but they didn’t slow down, kept running until they reached a waterfall set into a huge rock face. Eidolon slipped around it, reached into a hole, and a huge section of the wall rumbled and moved aside.

“Shade!” Eidolon’s panicked shout joined the blood-curdling sounds of battle coming from inside the cave.

They charged through a strangely modern kitchen to a huge bedroom, where Shade was grappling with Rami. Rami’s blows rained down hard and fast, while Shade’s powerful punches seemed to be a minor inconvenience for the fallen angel. Blood—most of it Shade’s, as far as Lore could tell—coated the floor and smeared the walls. In one corner, a huge, toffee-furred warg crouched protectively over an infant. Nearby, Sin was a motionless lump of blood and bruises.

He’d seen her like that before, and his head rocked back as the memory bitch-slapped his brain.

Lore didn’t recognize the woman he’d slammed into the wall. She lay on the floor, bleeding and curled in on herself. Bloodlust roared through his veins, inflaming his already burning skin. His arm was on fire, the strange new marks glowing.

Kill.

The woman on the floor had the same marks. She whimpered.

Kill.

Cold sweat broke out over his body, but it didn’t stop the burn. The female whimpered again.

Run.

Lore staggered backward, punch-drunk with memories. Through the fog of the fading vision, he saw Eidolon and the medics launch into battle, ripping Shade away from the fallen angel and lending some fresh muscle to the fight. Outnumbered, Rami snarled and poofed out of there. It all seemed so distant, when the memory of the day he’d gained his tats and gifts still clung to the walls of his mind.

Sin. He’d not remembered any of it. Until now. God, he’d failed her. Over and over, and he’d never be able to make it up to her. He sank to his knees next to her, taking the painful crack to his kneecaps as an inadequate penance. Idess and the blond medic joined him.

In the background, his brothers were speaking in harsh words and soft murmurs… and then Runa, now in her human form, was kneeling beside Sin.

Lore gripped his sister’s shoulder. Her arms were tucked awkwardly beneath her, and she was strangely hunched up. Moaning, she shifted. Beneath her, cradled against her stomach, was the second baby.

Tears streamed down Runa’s cheeks as she gathered the infant to her chest. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “You saved his life.”

“Yeah.” Sin’s sarcastic voice was a pained whisper. “I’m a hero.” She eased onto her side, and Lore’s gut twisted at the sight of her bloody wrists, which were bound with razor wire cutting