Ecstasy Unveiled(40)
Eidolon blocked the door, fully intending to physically restrain her if he had to. “I just want to ask a few more questions. And maybe I can help find Lore.”
She seemed to consider that, and though she narrowed her eyes at him, she nodded slowly.
“How did you get hurt?” he asked.
“That’s none of your business.” When he cursed, she huffed. “What? It’s an answer.”
Gods, she was starting to make Wraith look agreeable. “What’s your gift?”
A plastic model of a set of lungs crashed to the floor, startling Eidolon and making Sin jump. “What the hell was that?”
“Ghost.” Damn, he was getting sick of this shit. “Your gift?” he prompted.
Glancing at the shattered model as if it was going to launch at her, she rubbed her bandage, but when she realized what she was doing, she let her hand drop. “Gift isn’t the word I’d choose for it.”
“Ability, then. What is it? You don’t wear a glove, so I’m guessing it’s not the same as Lore’s.”
She laughed bitterly. “No, but it’s still fucked up. Apparently, only you purebreds get the cool stuff.”
“Apparently.” He waited for her to answer his question, but she didn’t, and he gnashed his teeth. “So… your ability? What is it?”
“I can cause disease at a touch.”
“Disease?” he repeated, just to make sure he heard correctly.
“D-I-S-E-A-S-E. Disease. You should have learned all about them in one of your internet classes.”
Deep breath in. Deep breath out. “What kind of disease?”
Turning away, she rubbed her injury again. “It’s different in everyone. It’s like I send a spark into someone, and the spark searches out the most horrible, personalized disease it can find to kill that individual.”
Gods, Lore and Sin couldn’t be more the opposite of Eidolon in terms of abilities. He healed; they killed. “And you do this, why?”
She rounded on him, jabbed her finger in his chest. “Don’t you judge me, asshole. You’re not exactly an angel, either. I do what I have to do. And if it makes your highly educated, superior self feel any better, I do it quickly. The werewolf was an accident.”
“What werewolf?”
She jerked. “It’s nothing. I have to go.” Sin shoved at him, but he seized her arm and hauled her up so she was on her toes, off-balance, and couldn’t possibly mistake how through with her games he was.
“The warg that came in,” he growled. “His death was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“Fuck off.”
“Sin, dammit, answer me!”
“Yes, okay?” Her black eyes glinted with flecks of gold, a Seminus trait that couldn’t be faked, and every last drop of doubt left him in a rush. “You happy now?”
“Not really,” he muttered, releasing her. Gods, his mind was still having trouble processing all of this. Lore’s existence had been unexpected, but a sister? A brother with a human mother was fucked up enough, but Eidolon couldn’t even begin to imagine what could go wrong with a Seminus female. “I was hoping to help Lore deal with his gift… maybe I can help you with yours.”
She laughed and put a few steps between them. “Help? Yeah, okay. If you really want to help you’ll chop off the warg’s head and bring it to me in a bag. That would be a big help.”
He let out a disgusted breath. “You need proof of his death.”
“There goes the brain surgeon again.”
“You’re not getting his head,” he said tightly. “I won’t let you desecrate his body.”
“You have to!” Panic snuffed out the gold flecks in her eyes. “I need proof.”
“Or what?” When she said nothing, he repeated himself, his voice cracking in the still air. “Or what?”
“Or I’m going to be sold to Neethul slave traders.”
Eidolon inhaled sharply. As far as punishments went, it didn’t get much worse.
“Hey!” Sin jabbed him in the biceps. “You stroking out or something? You’re pale. And you’re not being all superior. Something’s wrong.”
Oh, she was a riot. “Will anything other than his head be acceptable?”
“Sometimes a unique identifying feature will work, but you need a damned good reason for not having the head.”
“Would your employer accept my word as a Justice Dealer and physician?” Granted, he was no longer an enforcer of demon law, but he had powerful connections and a fucking great game face.
She leveled a look of disbelief at him. “You’re kidding, right?”