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With a roar, Eidolon heaved Wraith across the room His brother hit the floor and rolled into the wall Before he could sit up, Eidolon was on top of hi his head into the carpet

"E!" Shade’s hands closed on his shoulders "Eidolon Let hiht Narcan"

"Screw that," Wraith slurred "I ate that junkie fair and square"

Still straddling his brother, Eidolon ground his molars until they hurt "Did you kill him? Is the junkie dead?"

"Dunno"

Shade knelt, scrubbed a hand over his face "Any witnesses?"

"Don’t give a shit"

"Wraith--"

"Give it a rest already" Wraith used his tongue to caress one of his fangs as though tasting the blood that had flowed over it when he ate the human junkie "The Vamp Council won’t touch me, and you know it"

No, they wouldn’t As a Seray area between both species, and the Councils had nearly gone to war over the laws he should be required to obey Punishment for various offenses was an especially sticky and sensitive matter, and both Councils had finally, with Shade and Eidolon’s help, agreed to a coreeant asshole," Shade ed the cap off the syringe with his teeth

Wraith hissed and struggled Eidolon roughly slammed his knees onto his brother’s shoulders to hold him in place while Shade shot him up with the Narcan, one of the few human medications that worked as intended in de you," Eidolon said, knowing he should be ed-up human--always male, since Wraith wouldn’t touch a hu had set him off, made him remember the trau he didn’t talk about, other than to say that he’d been forced to watch hu the same As a result, he fed only from other demons and human males The occasional junkies were an escape for hiressions

Wraith snarled, his eyes already losing the glassy sheen of his drug high "You should be babysitting your whore"

"You should have been eaten at birth" Consue, Eidolon stood before he killed his brother

"Shade, did you get hold of Gee for you Said to tell you the twenty-four hours is up What’s she talking about? She was riled Definitely channeling her inner de," Eidolon lied "Did either of our a his head, Shade ca entrance collapsed"

"Shit Has the glamour spell been repaired?"

"Yeah The entrance is hidden froenerally hidden anyway, since it sat on the basee Eidolon had purchased, but still, what a fking lanced at Tayla, who stood in the doorway, her expression haunted in a way that seeo deeper than the i at?" Wraith snapped, the downslide fro to iainst the wall, head back, glaring at Tayla with hooded eyes

"I didn’t know derinned coldly

"I don’t I do blood" He ran his tongue over the points of his fangs "Come here, and I’ll do you"

She snorted "Dream on"

"Ah, so you’re selective about the deed arning that his brother ignored

"What? Seems a little hypocritical Anyone with asto have--"

"Shut it"

This time Wraith listened, but Tayla hadto have?" She turned to Eidolon "I’et?"

"You haven’t told her?" Wraith laughed and leaped nis co," Eidolon said, but Wraith was ht as a cat’s before it pounced

Eidolon stepped between the him around "Pleasetell me"

He’d wanted to wait until her body had taken her as far as it could go so she’d realize she needed his help, but Wraith was forcing his hand And is had betrayed her--her own kind had cast her out and tried to kill her when they should have protected and cherished her Learning she belonged to another world o intoher feet and crossing her arms over her chest "Whatever it is, I can handle it"

Eidolon ran his fingers through his hair "Fine I told you that you were half-de the problems is that when the Alu bit you, it activated dormant DNA"

"Dormant DNA?" She sed and licked her lips "What are you saying?"

"Geez, huainst the wall "He’s saying it’s taking over It’s either going to kill you or rob you of everything that lanced at Shade, who nodded, and then at Eidolon "I don’tthat can’t be right"

The sound of Wraith’s cold laughter dropped the temperature in the room "Welcome, slayer," he said

"Welcome to hell"

Fifteen

Tayla didn’t speak a word as Eidolon, freshly changed into jeans and a charcoal sweater, guided her through the hospital’s dark halls Her thoughts were still frozen at the place where Wraith had said she was going to lose everything that made her human, and it was all she could do to stay conscious, let alone talk

She certainly couldn’t think

Ahead, a sleek, black arch fraate like the one she’d seen in the tunnel at Nancy’s aparte she didn’t know and ushered her through it They came out on the other side in what looked like a cave of black marble, with maps carved into the polished stone wall Eidolon touched one that appeared to be a crude representation of the United States, and then an even cruder carving of New York state glowed red next to it After a few taps, another arch appeared