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The demon is a prince of the air and can transform himself into several shapes, delude our senses for a time; but his power is determined, he may terrify us but not hurt

--Robert Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy

Had Eidolon been anywhere but the hospital, he would have killed the guy pleading for his life before him

As it was, he’d have to save the bastard

"So a doctor blows," he e full of hehblood sterilization medication into the wound

"You didn’t nuer brother’s words "The Haven spell keepsa little justice during treatment"

"Can’t escape your old job, huh?" Shade pushed aside the curtain separating two of the three ER

cubicles and stepped fully inside "The son of a bitch eats babies Let me wheel him outside and waste his sorry ass"

"Wraith already offered"

"Wraith offers to waste all the patients"

Eidolon grunted "Probably a good thing our little brother didn’t go the doctor route"

"Neither did I"

"You had different reasons"

Shade hadn’t wanted to spend that ift was better suited to his chosen field, para patients off the street and keeping theh for the Underworld General staff to fix them

Blood dripped to the obsidian floor as Eidolon probed the patient’s most serious wound A feht the patient sneaking into her nursery, and had somehow iain, U for their petite size The females were especially so Eidolon had, on several occasions, enjoyed the application of that strength in bed In fact, when he could no longer resist the final maturation cycle his body had entered, he planned to oodof a Seued hilanced at the patient’s face The skin that should have been a deep reddish-broas now pale with pain and blood loss "What’s your na to repair this unsightly hole, but it’s going to hurt A lot Try not tolittle i parasite," he snarled

"Doctor parasite" Eidolon nodded at the equipe, one of their few human nurses, handed hi before she caught you?"

Hatred rolled off Shade’s body as Derc shook his head, sharp teeth bared, eyes glowing orange

"Today isn’t your lucky day then Didn’t get afor the pain, either"

Allowing hied artery in two places as Derc screaainst the restraints that held hie handed him the instrument, and he expertly sliced between the cla as he shaved away the shredded artery tissue and then held the newly clean ends together A war his derers, and the artery fused The baby-eater would no longer have to worry about bleeding out From the expression on Shade’s face, however, he would have to worry about surviving more than two steps outside the hospital

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d saved a life only to have it taken once the patient had been released

"BP’s dropping" Shade’s gaze focused on the bedside monitor "Could be shock"

"There’s another bleed so up his pressure"

Reluctantly, Shade placed his large pales in Derc’s forehead The numbers on the e would be temporary Shade’s powers couldn’t sustain life that wasn’t there, and if Eidolon couldn’t find the proble Shade did would make a difference

A rapid assess to explain the drop in vitals Then, just below the patient’s twelfth rib, a fresh scar Beneath the razor-straightbubbled

"Shade"

"Hell’s fires," Shade breathed His gaze snapped up as he raked his fingers through nearly black hair that, at shoulder-length, was longer than but identical in color to Eidolon’s "It ht not be Ghouls"

Ghouls Not the cannibalistic monsters of human lore, but the term for those who carved up demons to sell their parts on the underworld black ht but not ripped from the womb yesterday, Eidolon pressed softly on the scar

"Derc, what happened here?"

"Cut ical scar"

UG was the only ery on their kind, and Derc hadn’t been treated here before

Eidolon caught the pungent stink of fear "No It was an accident" Derc clenched his fists, his lidless eyes wild "You must believe me"

"Derc, calm down Derc?"