“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.”