Chapter Twenty-seven 16 страница

She burned for him, smoked and sizzled. He was flame and she was fuel and when he did something sinful with his finger between them, she finally ignited. She came, bellowing out his name. He followed, his body going bowstring taut, his head falling back, his hips jackhammering into her. His warm, spurting seed splashed deep inside, triggering another powerful climax that forced her to unwrap her legs from his waist in order to brace herself on the bed as her hips came off it.

As though the air had been let out of him, he sagged on top of her. He was heavy, crushingly heavy, but she didn’t care. She’d just had not one, but two orgasms when she’d never been able to come with a man.

Gratitude and something even stronger, an emotion she didn’t want to name, tripped through her as she stroked his muscular back, petting him, telling him with her hands what she didn’t have the breath to say.

Abruptly, he rolled off her, pulling her with him so she lay on her side, facing him. Male triumph lit his expression, bringing out the gold flecks in his dark eyes.

“That was—”

“Shh. ” He pressed a finger to her lips and then drew it down her chin, her throat, her breasts. . . all the way to her core. “You’re not through. ”

“But—”

He made a harsh noise, shutting her up as he dipped two fingers inside her. “Remember what my seed does? ” Before she could respond, he spread his moisture through her slit, coating her bud, which still tingled. She groaned, arching into his touch, but he withdrew. One big hand clenched her thigh. Eidolon was looking at her, lids lowered, gaze fierce. Slowly, he squeezed her legs together and pulled her close, the friction threatening to set her off again. He knew, was massaging her thigh to create tiny waves in her muscles.

“No, ” she said, grasping his wrist. “Not alone. ” The vulnerability of it all, coming apart while he watched, totally uninvolved, God.

“You’re going to come again. Don’t fight it. ”

But she was fighting it. She felt so stupid, so exposed, and, as he kept tenderly caressing her, so freaking inflamed.

He leaned forward so their chests touched, so his lips brushed hers. “Trust it. Trust me. ”

“No, ” she moaned, but her body trusted him, and it took his words and ran with them. Pleasure spread in a tidal wave from her sex to her scalp. She thrashed, writhed, bit her tongue to keep from screaming.

“Ride it out, ” he murmured.

When she came down from the high, she didn’t have a chance to feel embarrassment, and honestly, she didn’t know if she would. The way he took her in, the admiration in his gaze, wow. Suddenly, she understood feminine power.

“You’re lovely when you come. I could watch your pleasure all day long. ”

“Not one for TV, huh? ”

His laughter rang out, deep and hearty. “You are much more fascinating than anything I could watch on TV. ”

So was he, as much as she hated to admit it. “Eidolon? ”

“Hmm? ”

“Thank you. ”

He pushed up on his elbows. “No, thank you. ”

“For what? ”

He smiled, the one that made her weak in the knees. “For reminding me why I need to fight the s’genesis. ”

“So you can heal women with sexual hangups? ”

“No, ” he said, dipping his head to kiss her, “so I can be with a female because I want to, not because I need to. ” His voice dropped lower, became a hypnotizing purr. “Let me heal the rest of you. Let me integrate your demon half. ”

“Yes. . . no, wait. ” She struggled to sit up, but with one hand on her breastbone, he kept her down and still.

“I don’t want you to die. ”

“That’s what it could really come down to, isn’t it? ” God, she was insane for even considering it. “If I agree to this, I need you to promise me something. ” She couldn’t believe she was asking a demon for a promise. A week ago she’d have killed anyone who said she’d ever do such a thing. “If I turn out to be something really horrible. . . you’ll kill me. ”

Eidolon’s dark brows shot up. Before he could say anything, she pressed one finger to his lips. “Please. I can’t say yes unless I know I won’t be a danger to anyone. Can you promise me that? ”

After a moment, he bowed his head so his forehead rested on hers. “I promise. I’ll give Shade a call in the morning. We’ll do it then. ” He palmed her hip and pushed his thick thigh between her legs, making her sigh with contentment. “Tonight, we have other things to do. ”

Nineteen

The hazy morning light streaming through the window seared Eidolon’s eyes. He didn’t think about the reason he was so sensitive. He didn’t care. All that mattered was getting to the blinds and closing them.

His feet hit the floor, but his legs didn’t work. Rubbery muscles couldn’t support his weight, and he crumpled next to the bed. Pain covered him like a blanket of thorns. Everything hurt. His eyes. His face. His entire body throbbed.

Had Tayla done something to him?

Tayla.

A surge of lust shot through him like a burning arrow. He lifted his head, caught the savory scent of the sex they’d had for hours last night. Yeah, she’d been cured. She’d come over and over, in every position, in every room.

Forgetting the blinds, he staggered to his feet, swaying until he caught himself on the side of the bed. Tayla lay tangled in the sheets, her hair fanning out over the pillow, her breasts exposed to the air and his gaze. Lower, the sheet had fallen away, allowing a glimpse of her thighs and the sweet place nestled between.

He wanted her. Needed her.

Growling low in his throat, he lowered himself onto the bed and opened his mouth over her hip.

“Mmm, Hellboy, ” she murmured, smiling, her eyes still closed.

She shifted and stretched. Opened her eyes. And gasped.

“Shit! ” She scooted toward the headboard, but he grabbed her foot and tried to drag her back down. A kick aimed at his chin nearly connected. “What is wrong with you? ”

“Nothing’s wrong with me. What’s wrong with you? ”

She jerked free of his grip and rolled off the bed, coming gracefully to her feet.

Naked.

The delicious, potent aroma of fear came off her hot body in waves. He had to have her. Now.

“Stay away from me. ”

Not going to happen.

Take her.

His nostrils flared as he separated the scents coming from her. Fear, confusion. . . ovulation.

She’s ready.

Mingled with her smells, masking the scent of human, was the one of demon. His body answered.

Power rippled beneath his skin, threatening to tear him apart. His brain fogged. Pain crackled through him. The sound of ripping flesh hit him at the same time as the stabbing sensations in his back.

When his vision cleared, he looked down at his hands. No, not hands. Paws. Red, scaly paws tipped with serrated talons.

Impregnate her.

“I’m going to have you now. ”

Tayla’s scream shot straight to his groin. The sound of terror was a rush, an aphrodisiac for both the mind and cock. Now he needed to taste her, to rip into her flesh with his teeth—

He shook his head. These thoughts weren’t his.

Impregnate her.

He lunged. Landed on her, held her shoulders with the claws on the tips of his wings, while his hands grasped her hips to bring her closer to his barbed penis. She brought her knee up, nailed him between the legs so hard he roared. Rolling, she caught him behind the knees with her foot, and he went down.

He snagged her calf, but she wriggled out of his grasp and darted to her weapons bag.

“Esraladoth en sludslo. ” The words came out of his mouth, but he had no idea what he’d said.

She whirled, a boleadora in her fist. “If that means kick my ass, then fucker, you’re in luck. ” She hurled it at him. He felt it wrap around his throat, and the world went black.

Tayla watched the Soulshredder go down, her heart beating so hard her ribs hurt. Terror like she hadn’t felt since the day her mom died threatened to turn her into a useless blob of jelly, and she had to fight like hell to stay on her feet. The thing twitched and went still.

The events of the last few moments played back in her head like a horror movie, but no matter how much she paused the video, she couldn’t find an explanation for what had just happened. Where was Eidolon? One moment he’d been kissing her hip; the next he’d been sprouting membrane-thin, veined wings from his back. Had the Soulshredder killed him and taken his form? If the Soulshredder had taken someone else from her, she swore she’d make what Jagger and Lori did to Yuri appear tame.

Hand shaking, she drew a dagger from her weapons bag and nearly dropped it. Twice. If this was the best she could do, beheading the thing would be messy. Not that she cared. Oh, no. She was going to work the beast over, make it suffer until she discovered what it had done to Eidolon.

She swung around.

It was gone. In its place, Eidolon was there, the boleadora around his neck.

Oh, shit.

Still clutching the knife, she pulled a set of manacles from the bag and hurried to him. In the gray, cloud-choked light filtering through the window, he looked the same, except for the huge, swirling tattoo on the right side of his face.

And when she’d first seen him in the bed, his eyes had been red.

Cautiously, she shackled his ankles and wrists, and removed the weighted rope from around his throat.

Sitting on her heels, she stared at him, wondering what to do now. Besides get dressed, anyway. She couldn’t leave him here, tied up, indefinitely, but neither could she turn him loose and risk his spontaneously shifting into something horrible again. Of course, that was assuming the creature on the floor was him at all.

Maybe one of his brothers could help.

Quickly, she threw on some jeans and a plain black T-shirt from the bag of clothes she’d brought with her, and then she hunted down his cell phone and dialed Shade. When he didn’t answer, she found the hospital’s number in the phone’s directory. A female answered and identified herself as the nurse in charge at Underworld General.

“I need to speak to Shade. ”

“He is unavailable. ”

“Then get Wraith. It’s an emergency. ”

“Do you require medical assistance? ”

“I require Shade. ”

“Ma’am, ” came the irritated voice that sounded as if it was being sifted through fangs, “Shade is busy—”

“You can get him on the line, so do it. Now. ” Actually, she had no idea if they could get him, but she was done being nice.

There was a pause, a click, several rings, and then a grumpy, deep voice.

“Shade. ”

“Yeah, look. It’s Tayla. Eidolon. . . he’s in trouble. ”

“Again? This wasn’t Wraith’s doing. He’s been level. So what the fuck did you do to E? ” A vicious snarly sound vibrated through the phone. “If you hurt him—”

“I didn’t, asshole. Something’s wrong. He went crazy. He’s got this big tattoo on his face, and his eyes were red—”

“Ah, shit. ” Curses flew over the airwaves, and she hoped the underworld equivalent of some FCC wasn’t listening in. “Where are you? ”

“His apartment. ”

“Stay there. ”

“Well, duh. Where else would I—”

The line went dead. Demons were so rude.

She didn’t want to go back to the bedroom. What if Eidolon had morphed into a Soulshredder again? What if he hadn’t, but was awake and wondering why she’d beaten and bound him? What if he’d known exactly what he was doing when he turned into the thing that terrified her most in the entire world?

Nervous energy zinged through her like an electric current as she paced in the kitchen, jonesing for an orange. She finished off the last of the orange juice, and as she drained the glass, someone pounded on the front door.

“It’s Shade. Open up. ”

She did, and he strode in, completely encased in black leather and steel-toed boots. Wraith entered behind Shade, somehow looking even more lethal than his brother despite the fact that he wore torn jeans and a Hooters T-shirt. Danger followed in his wake. . . followed, because it wouldn’t dare get in his way.

They both stopped short at the sight of Eidolon on the floor in the bedroom, in shackles and unmoving.

“Overkill, much? ” Shade said, striding forward to drop his medic bag next to Eidolon.

“You didn’t see him before. ”

“What do you mean? ” Wraith asked, joining Shade.

“He turned into a Soulshredder. ”

Shade let out a low, stunned whistle, but Wraith grinned over his shoulder at her. “Damn. First time he shapeshifts, he picks something like that. Who knew he had it in him? ”

“Is it really him? ”

Shade knelt and palmed Eidolon’s forehead. “Yeah, it’s him. Tayla, I need you to remove the restraints. ”

She tossed him the key, still hesitant to go anywhere near.

“E? ” Wraith helped Shade turn him onto his back. “Bro, you hear me? ”

Eidolon groaned. “What happened? ”

“You got your ass whupped, ” Wraith said, squatting on his heels and bracing his forearms on his knees. “Almost sounds like you deserved it. ”

“Where’s Tayla? Is she okay? ” He tried to sit up, but Shade and Wraith pushed him back down.

“I’m fine. ” She moved closer, drawn by the concern in his voice. “I’m not sure what happened. ”

“She says you turned into a Soulshredder. ”

The blood drained from Eidolon’s handsome face. He levered into a sit even with both brothers trying to make him eat carpet. “I what? ”

“What do you remember? ” Shade asked, as he inserted a needle into Eidolon’s hand. His dark hair had fallen down around his face, concealing his expression, but his broad shoulders hunched with tension.

“Not much. ” Eidolon’s voice turned husky, and his eyes went gold as he looked at her. “I wanted her. I know that. ”

Wraith placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Idle down, man. Now’s not the time. And that’s something I never thought I’d say. ”

Eidolon went utterly still, and then he shook his head as though trying to clear it. “That’s all I know. I wanted to take her. More than I’ve ever wanted anything. ”

Heat washed over her body at the memory of how she’d awakened, ready for him even though they’d spent the entire night engaged in the most amazing erotic play. But then she’d noticed that he looked different. Acted different. Terrifyingly different.

“It was weird, ” she said. “It was like he was possessed. ”

“So you refused him? ” Shade asked, and she bristled.

“Well, hello. . . he wasn’t himself—”

“Chill, ” Shade said, his voice softer than she’d ever heard it. “I didn’t mean anything. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this. For his sake. ”

She felt herself blush. Talking sex with Eidolon’s brothers was just too weird. “Yeah, I refused him. That’s when he turned into the Soulshredder. ” She shuddered. “We were talking about them last night. Maybe it was the first demon he thought of to change into. ”

Wraith and Shade exchanged glances, something ominous passing between them. Eidolon seemed distracted, looking inward, his face still ashen.

“That’s why he didn’t return, ” Eidolon muttered, making no sense. He shoved both hands through his hair and focused on her with an intensity that made her take a step back. “It bothered me, why the Soulshredder didn’t come back to torment you after he killed your mother. That’s what they do. They keep at it, driving their victims insane. ”

“You don’t think the memory of what he did has tormented me all these years? ” And why did her voice have to tremble like that? Eidolon had helped her through so much last night, and now she felt as if she was living the trauma all over again.

“I know it has, lirsha. ” He scooted toward her, slowly, and with every inch, she felt panic rise. “But now it’s making sense. You weren’t his intended victim. He didn’t kill your mom to torment you. He killed her after tormenting her for years. ”

“Years? No. That couldn’t be. ” She frowned, because actually, what he said made sense. Everyone who’d known her said she’d had goals, a good life, and then she started doing drugs. Tayla remembered how she would talk about getting rid of her demons. . .

They’d been real. The demons had been real, and no one had believed her.

“She’d get clean for a while, and then relapse, going off about demons, how her nightmares had started again. He must have come to her during the times when she was clean, and he drove her back to the drugs. ”

“When did she start using? ”

“I’m not sure. . . ” Before her grandma died, she’d told Tayla that everything happened at once. Her mom had dropped out of college in the middle of a nervous breakdown everyone assumed had come as a result of stress, drugs, and an unexpected pregnancy. . . “Oh, God. God, no. ”

“Yep. ” Shade’s mouth tightened in a grim line as he connected a unit of blood to Eidolon’s IV line. “There’s only one reason E would have turned into a Soulshredder, Tayla. ”

Cramps twisted her insides, threatened to double her over. “Because he sensed it in me, ” she said hoarsely.

Eidolon inclined his head. “The demon who killed your mother—”

“Was my father. ”

Eidolon rubbed his cheek where the markings had been. “That’s why you can see scars no one else can. Shredders can see old injuries, even if they’ve healed. They find weaknesses and exploit them. ”

Wraith shot her a look of sympathy she could see through the veil of darkness that started to descend. “Dude, and I thought I was fucked up. ”

“You are, dumbass. ” Shade hung the bag of blood from a dresser knob as she backed toward the door. She had no idea where she was going, just that she needed to get out of this room that kept growing smaller with every passing second.

“I, uh, I need some air. ” She darted out the door and down the hall, ignoring Eidolon’s shouts for her to come back. The sound of footsteps behind her only spurred her faster, and before she knew it, she was running barefoot along the maze of hallways that made up the top floor of the high-rise building.

“Tayla! ” Shade’s voice echoed after her, distant, but not distant enough. Panic had reached up and taken her by the throat, and right now she just needed to be alone.

She darted down the fire escape stairs and kept going once she hit the lobby. People stared, but she didn’t care. The doorman opened the doors for her, and she flew out of the building and into the rain-soaked daylight.

The cool spring shower did nothing to ease her fevered thoughts even as it saturated her to the bone. People dressed in business attire and outfitted with umbrellas gave her a wide berth, no doubt seeing a crazy, homeless waif with tangled hair, hole-ridden jeans, and no shoes.

She didn’t give a crap.

The Soulshredder that killed my mother was my father. The words screamed through her head. She clamped her hands over her ears, as if that would block them out, but it only made them echo more violently off the inside of her skull.

A massive sob escaped her, and she did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Twenty

If nervous energy could be harnessed, Eidolon would have lit up Manhattan with his pacing. Shade and Wraith had gone in search of Tayla, and now, fifteen minutes later, there was no word. He’d stayed behind in case she returned, but he didn’t know how much longer he could stand doing nothing but wait.

The front door flew open, and Shade, dripping wet, burst inside. “She’s gone. Wraith is tracking her, but I have a feeling that if she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be. ”

Pain struck him like a blow, worse than anything Tayla could do to him if she tried. “I have to find her. If her demon half rears up, she could be incapacitated. And if The Aegis catches her. . . I have to go. ” He grabbed a jacket from his closet. “Call Gem. She said she can sense Tayla—”

“E. ” Shade grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Give her some space. She just found out her sire is a species that makes Cruenti go to ground. ”

“Why do you care? ”

“Because you do. ”

In a moment of tense silence, Eidolon let the words sink in. He did care for Tayla, and he might as well stop denying it. “Is it that obvious? ”

“Ah, you’re kidding, right? She’s the enemy, she blew up the hospital, got Yuri killed. . . yet you moved her in with you. I’m thinking all that means you care. A lot more than you should. ” He dropped his hands and leveled a hard look at Eidolon. “That said, she could have taken you out a couple of times, but instead, she called me to help. She might not be a total wench. ”

“She’s not. ” The night they’d shared came back to him in slow motion. He’d fucked a lot of females, but he’d never once made love to one.

He’d made love to Tayla over and over.

“Shit, ” Shade muttered. “Don’t do it. Don’t bond with her. E? You hear me? She’s a slayer—”

“Not anymore. ”

Curses fell out of Shade’s mouth, creative ones Eidolon had never used. “You know our blood is toxic to humans. ”

“She’s half-demon. She could survive the ritual. ”

“It’s dangerous enough to make a demon your mate, but someone trained to kill you? Twenty years from now, when she decides she wants a divorce—”

“That’ll be my concern. Not yours. ”

Shade stared at him for a long moment. “If I wanted to take a mate, would you be worried? ”

“Damn straight. But only because of your curse. ” A curse that would doom Shade to a fate worse than death if he ever fell in love. “My situation is different. A lot different. ”

Shade shook his head in exasperation. “Fine. Whatever. You bitch about Wraith being so stubborn, but you make him look like an amateur. ”

The phone rang, and Shade grabbed it. He listened for a moment, then hung up. “We need to get to the hospital. ” His sinister grin matched the evil glint in his eye. “Paige just woke up from her coma. ”

It was a monster with a hundred eyes. Some had been smashed, others were so clouded they couldn’t be used. The thing stared at Tayla through the rain and fog, mocking her with its silence.

It was The Warehouse, the one where she’d been born, the one she always came back to because the hunting was so good, though now she wondered if there was another reason she kept returning to this place. Maybe she was suffering from some sort of demon compulsion to return to her birthplace, because eight hours after fleeing Eidolon’s apartment, she found herself before it once again, and with no memory of how she got here.

All she knew was that her feet were bleeding, she was soaked, and she was angry. She crossed the street, not caring that cars had to slam on their brakes and honk their horns to keep from smashing her. Several drivers cursed at her, then cursed more when she presented them with a middle-finger salute.

She walked into a wall of stench as she stepped inside the building. Human waste, smoke, rotting food. She’d always ignored the odors and the filth, but today she catalogued it all in her mind. This was where her mother had spent a lot of her life. Here, among the graffiti-scarred walls, the discarded hypodermic needles, the rats and cockroaches.

The Soulshredder had done this to her mother.

A sound, faint, female, carried over the scratching of rodent claws on concrete, and Tayla crouched, crept toward the east wing. Several voices rang out behind her—laughter, probably coming from the western offices where crackheads liked to hang out. The dozens of exits in that part of the building provided a safety net for them, especially during police raids.

“Leave me alone, Bryce. ” Ahead, a woman sat in a corner, blood dripping from her nose, her stringy blonde hair matted to what looked like dried blood on her cheek. A bulldog of a man stood over her, meaty fist cocked back. The woman scrambled away, but he caught her and punched her hard in the head.

Curiously calm, Tayla stepped out of the shadows, prepared to pound the man into dust. A vampire did the same, at the other end of the room. A large male, it seized the man by the back of the neck, slammed him against the wall, and buried its fangs deep into the human’s jugular.

Whimpering, the woman lurched to her feet and fled the room, not sparing a glance back.

The wet sound of sucking cut through the other warehouse noises. Bloodlust shimmered in the air like an electric current, dancing off Tayla’s skin. She’d never noticed the sensation before, or maybe she had, but assumed it was part of the adrenaline rush that filled her before battle. It felt curiously good. Seductive, even, and she had to plant her feet firmly to keep from moving closer to the bloodsucker and his prey.

Just a few days ago, Tayla would have taken out the vamp and saved the man, which seemed ironic, given that the human had beaten the crap out of a smaller woman and might have killed her. Now Tayla just watched.

“Funny how sometimes humans prove to be bigger monsters than demons, huh? ”

Tayla whirled around. The first thing she saw was a pair of luminous green eyes that were level with hers. The second thing she saw was the fist connecting with her face.

Tayla’s head snapped back. “Ow! ” She returned the favor with an elbow in the black-haired woman’s jaw.

The woman wobbled on her feet before steadying herself, one corner of her black lipstick-stained mouth tipping up in a half-smile. “It’s good to finally meet you, Tayla. ”

Tay touched the back of her hand to her stinging lips. It came away with blood. “Right. Finally. Who the hell are you? ” Whoever she was, she was pretty, with long, thick eyelashes, high cheekbones, black and blue hair braided into two pigtails that would have looked ridiculous on anyone older than seven, but that somehow worked on her. Probably because she was dressed like a Catholic schoolgirl. On crack.

“My name’s Gem. ”

“Well, Gem, now that we’re all buddy-buddy and on a first-name basis, you want to tell me why you introduced me to your knuckles? ”

“So many ways to answer that. ” Gem studied her black-painted nails. “How’s life in The Aegis treating you? ”

“You must be a demon. ” Something struck Tayla as being familiar. Gem’s eyes. . . so green. Tayla had seen them before.

“Why do you say that? ”

“Because demons seem to lack the switch in the brain that warns them when they are about to say something stupid. ”

“I knew you’d have a sense of humor. ”

“Enough of the cryptic shit. How do you know me? ”

“I’ve always known you. ”

“Jesus Christ, ” Tayla muttered. “I don’t have time to play games. ” She turned on her heel, not sure where she was going but desperate to get away from Cryptic Goth Chick.

“You have very little time for anything, slayer. You’re dying. And not slowly. ”

Tayla snorted and kept walking. “Tell me something I don’t know. ”

A hand closed on her elbow and jerked her around. “Fool! ”

Tayla had Gem flat on her back and was straddling her waist in a flash. “What the hell is your problem? ”

“My problem? ”

The sound of approaching footsteps barely registered, but the low, controlled drawl drew a groan from them both.

“That is so hot. E, do you think we can talk them into getting naked, too? ”

Eidolon stood next to Wraith and Shade, arms crossed, watching Gem and Tayla like a stern father, which was appropriate, because fighting with Gem seemed unnaturally. . . natural.

“She started it, ” Gem said, and Tayla snorted.

“What’s your issue with me? ”

Gem shrugged off Tayla’s grip on her upper arm, but didn’t try to dislodge her. “My issue is how you’ve wasted your life. You could have been so much more than an Aegis slayer. ”

“Guardian, ” Tay growled. “And how do you know what I’ve done with my life or what I could have been? ”

“Because, ” Gem said, “we’re sisters, and look what I became. ”