Passion Unleashed

Chapter 27

The thing that sucked about Jerusalem was that there were only a handful of Harrowgates. There was one just paces from the Dome of the Rock, a temple that housed the Foundation Stone Byzamoth would use to open the gate, but it would be under the enemy’s control, and the next closest was on the outskirts of the city. Which meant that Wraith, Luc, Tay, E, Reaver, and Ky had to hoof it miles to the Temple Mount.

The city’s atmosphere was bleak. The few people on the streets were silent, heads down as if they expected fire to fall from the sky—which was dark, the clouds roiling and edged in crimson. Lightning streaked to the ground and thunder cracked.

Wraith saw them in the distance. Two armies… one massive, the other massively arrogant. Only The Aegis would think their righteousness would allow them to come out on the victorious end of battle when they were outnumbered twenty to one.

“Let’s do this thing,” Wraith said, and Luc took off like a shot. No one liked a good fight more than a warg.

No one but Wraith.

Reaver pulled Kynan aside and Eidolon grabbed Wraith. “Hold up, bro. Just a sec.” He turned to Tayla and framed her face in his hands so tenderly Wraith had a moment of longing for Serena. “Don’t shift into your Shredder form. I don’t want any military idiot or Aegi mistaking you for the enemy.”

“And you stay back. You don’t fight in this one. You heal. That’s all.” Tayla took E’s face in her hands and brought his mouth close to hers. “I love you.”

Wraith turned away to give them a moment of privacy. He’d always made fun of their sappy relationship, had never understood how E could give so much of himself to Tayla. Now he got it. Got it so well it hurt.

He’d give anything and everything to Serena, if only she’d let him. If only she’d live.

He reached into his coat pocket, but instead of feeling up a weapon, which always soothed him, he fingered the top she’d given him. He’d grabbed it on the way out of the house, a good luck charm he wasn’t going into battle without.

He felt two hands on his back—one belonging to E, and the other to Tayla. She gave him a tentative smile. “Good luck, Wraith.”

With that, she took off.

“Ditto,” E said. “I have faith in you.”

“Sorry, not buying it.” Wraith watched lightning streak across the sky, connecting the clouds in a celestial dot-to-dot. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”

“I mean it. I’ve never given you enough credit. But I’m seeing something in you I’ve never noticed before.” Eidolon spared them both more mushiness by slugging him in the shoulder. “Kick his ass, bro.” He set off after Tayla.

Wraith watched them go, took a deep breath, and moved out. Good thing he had broad shoulders, because the weight of the world… sucked.

Serena breathed deeply as Shade released her arm. She’d passed out right after Josh left, but Shade had done the glowy-arm thing that always made her feel better. He backed away and stood near the door like a sentry, his shrewd, sharp eyes shifting between Val and David, who both sat in chairs near her bed

“You know,” Val said, taking her hand in his. “I really would rather take you home, where you’ll be more comfortable.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I could make the plane trip.” She also didn’t want to go anywhere until she knew that the amulet had been retrieved.

And that Josh had survived.

She still wasn’t sure how she felt about him, because his betrayal had been so huge, so… awful. But she understood why he’d set out to seduce her, and how hard it had been not to go through with it when he knew he was dooming his brothers.

She wriggled into a sitting position, and Val fluffed the pillow behind her back. “Shade?”

He looked at her.

“Josh—Wraith—said you and Eidolon were dying. But you weren’t poisoned, right?”

Shade shook his head. “Long story. He didn’t even know about it until after the attack on Philae. He’d decided not to go through with the plan to seduce you. That’s when we told him that we were dying, too.”

God, he’d backed off his plan even earlier than she’d thought.

“What difference does it make?” David asked. “He’s a demon.”

“He saved me from Byzamoth.”

“So he could have you for himself, you idiot! You actually believe this… this creature?”

“David!” Val’s hand tightened on Serena’s almost painfully, though he didn’t seem to realize it. “That’s enough.”

Shame colored David’s face.

Serena coughed… and couldn’t stop. Immediately, Shade was at her side, his hand wrapped around her wrist, fingers to her pulse, tattoo glowing. In seconds, her lungs cleared, opened up so she could breathe better. Josh had said he was a paramedic, and no doubt, he was a good one. Attentive, efficient, and possessing an arrogant confidence that was justified. He knew what he was doing and he did it well. She’d bet he did everything well.

“You have a… mate, right?” she asked, and his incredibly long lashes flew up in surprise.

“Yes.”

“Did she know what you were when you met?”

He grunted. “Not until she caught me in bed with a vampire and a Trillah demon.”

Her jaw dropped. “And she still wanted you?”

“She wanted to kill me. Tell you what,” he said, giving her a sleepy, seductive grin that reminded her so much of Josh, “I’ll tell you the whole sordid story after Wraith defeats Byzamoth.”

She knew there were no guarantees that Wraith would survive the battle, but she appreciated Shade’s efforts to calm her. He moved back to the doorway, and she tapped Val’s hand to get his attention. He’d fixed his gaze out the window at the approaching dawn and had gone someplace far away.

“Val?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she couldn’t believe the effort it took just to say his name.

“What is it?”

Nerves fluttered in her belly. “Who all knew about my mission in Egypt?”

David spoke up. “Everyone in the Sigil.”

“But who knew about the specifics? Where I was staying, where I was going to be at what times… things like that.”

Val’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

She palmed the mattress to keep her hands from shaking. What if Josh was right about Val? “Because Byzamoth was always one step ahead of me. He knew things he shouldn’t know.”

David stiffened. “What are you saying? How dare you accuse my father of betraying you.”

“I’m not accusing Val of anything. But someone was tipping off the fallen angel and trying to get me killed. He couldn’t have known I was stopping by the Regent’s house, and there’s definitely no way he could have known what train I took from Aswan. Josh changed the reservations.”

“Well, there’s your answer,” David shot back. “And let’s call him by his real name, shall we? Since he pretty much stole Josh’s identity like he stole everything else.”

She slid a glance at Shade, who still watched in silence, but the way his chiseled jaw rolled gave her the impression that he was grinding his teeth.

“It wasn’t him,” she insisted. It wouldn’t have made sense for Josh to have been tipping off the competition.

David made a sound of disgust. “It’s so much easier for you to accuse us than to believe your demon lover could possibly have betrayed you, never mind the fact that it’s all he’s done since he met you.”

“You feeling a little guilty, human? Because she didn’t accuse you.” Shade looked at Serena and shrugged. “Just pointing that out.”

And he was right. “Val, tell me. Who all knew about the Regent’s house and the train?”

Val didn’t say anything, but she knew the answer. He’d known… and so had David.

David shoved to his feet with such force that his chair tipped over. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this. Come on, Dad. We don’t need this.”

Shade blocked the door. “You don’t have to sit, but you will stay.”

“I’m trained to kill your kind.”

Shade cracked his knuckles.

Wisely, David backed off, but his stung pride put him on the hot side of pissed. “This is your fault, Serena.” He stalked to the end of the bed and nailed her to the wall with a hateful glare. “Yours and your whore of a mother’s.”

“Enough!” Val shouted, coming to his feet. “You’re out of line.”

“Really, Dad? Really? Because I’m thinking that your affair with Patrice was out of line.”

Serena’s mouth dropped open. Val’s snapped shut. Silence was an uncomfortable fourth party in the room until Shade drawled, “Now things are getting interesting.”

“Tell Serena,” David said. “Go ahead. Tell her how you cheated on mom for years. How every time Patrice snapped her fingers, you went running, leaving us alone. How, when she wanted to get pregnant, you couldn’t jerk off into a cup fast enough.”

The air left Serena’s lungs in a rush, leaving her woozy. “Is this true?” she croaked.

Val spread his hands in a pleading gesture. “I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t even know David knew.”

“How stupid do you think I am?” David snapped. “You think mom didn’t figure it out the first time she saw Serena? She was a carbon copy of you when she was little.” His voice vibrated with anger. “It must have been such a relief for you when Patrice gave up her charm to Serena. You got the best of both worlds. Your precious daughter was protected and you could finally fuck Patrice—”

Val decked David so hard that it sent his son flying. David bounced off the wall, using the momentum to rush at Val, but then Shade was there between them, fisting David’s shirt and easily holding him at arm’s length.

“I don’t care if you kill each other. But do it outside. Wraith will have my ass if the female gets caught in the cross fire.”

“She should be dead already,” David spat, and Serena went numb.

“Oh, my God,” Val whispered. “You did it. You betrayed her to Byzamoth.”

“So what? Mom is dead because of her! If you hadn’t loved her and Patrice more than us…” He jerked away from Shade and stumbled to the corner, where he put his head against the wall. “Mom couldn’t handle knowing you were cheating on her. All those years she put up with it, but when Patrice got pregnant again, it was the last straw. You drove her to it, Dad. You might as well have put the pills down her throat yourself.”

The truth of David’s words put shadows in Val’s eyes. He swallowed hard. “I never meant for any of that to happen. I loved your mother. I love you.”

Dabbing blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand, David turned back to Val. “But you loved Patrice and Serena more.”

Serena began to shake with fury. If she wasn’t so weak, she’d hit him herself. “You put the entire world at risk, betrayed the human race, just to get revenge?”

He recoiled as if she had struck him. “I didn’t know what Byzamoth was.” Tears swam in his eyes, and he dashed them away as he turned to Val. “I swear to you, I didn’t know. And I didn’t know Serena would die, not until you got all freaked when she said someone was after her. I just wanted the necklace. I wanted to be special.”

Val shook his head as though trying to clear it, and Serena knew how he felt, because she was confused as hell. “How did you find Byzamoth?”

“He came to the mansion after he discovered Serena’s identity. He said he was a mage. I think he planned to take the charm then. But you’d already sent her to Egypt. I was pissed—”

“Because you wanted to go,” Val interrupted, and David gave him a petulant nod.

“Byzamoth made a deal with me. He said if I told him where she was, he’d take the charm and give me Heofon.”

“And you believed him?” Serena gaped at the man’s stupidity.

“He acted like he didn’t care about the necklace. I thought he just wanted the charm. Then he got interested in the artifacts, and decided to use you to get them, too.”

“So he was after the tablet and coin.”

Val laughed bitterly. “Of course. Once David spilled the beans about those, Byzamoth would have realized that shutting down the Harrowgates would seriously disrupt his war. The gates between Heaven and Hell could still have been opened with Heofon, but demons wouldn’t have been able to get to the Earth’s surface to make war on humans. At least, not until they destroyed Heaven.” He made a sound of disgust as he rounded on his son. “You idiot. You realize that even if you had gotten the necklace, you would not have been allowed to keep it.”

David’s chin came up in defiance. “The holder of Heofon is given the charm—”

“If angels deem that person worthy!” Val roared. “You are not worthy.”

“I never have been, in your eyes.” David stalked toward the door, and after a brief nod from Val, Shade let him go—but not before whispering something in David’s ear that made his knees buckle. Once he caught himself, he couldn’t get away fast enough.

Val sank heavily onto his chair, didn’t look at Serena. “I don’t have the words to explain,” he began. “So ask what you need to.”

Too in shock to speak, Serena said nothing. It was Shade who broke the ice.

“This is better than a soap. Not that I’d know.” He propped himself against the doorframe again. “So, Aegi… why didn’t you ever tell Serena you whipped up her baby batter?”

Yes, she would like the answer to that oddly phrased question. Val buried his face in his hands, and she had to strain to hear him.

“How could I tell you when I couldn’t even come clean with my own family? I honestly didn’t think they knew. And after Patrice died, there was no point in saying anything. I knew that with the nuns, you’d be safe and well-cared for.” He lifted his head, watched her with bloodshot eyes. “I was a coward. And because of that, my son hates me. Hates his own sister. I’m sorry. So sorry.”

“What will happen to David?” Shade asked, in a tone that said he’d handle things if Val’s answer didn’t satisfy him.

Val took a ragged breath that ended on a sob. “It’s a matter for The Aegis.” He came to his feet. “I’ll be back.”

Shade waited until Val was gone, and then muttered, “Family sucks sometimes.”

God, he had that right. “About family… I think you should know the reason Wraith hasn’t been to see your sons.” Shade opened his mouth, but Serena cut him off. “He’s afraid, Shade. He’s afraid to share himself, like each piece he gives to someone is going to be a piece that goes missing when they turn on him. He feels like he’s lost you and Eidolon to your mates and children, and you were all he had.”

“Why do you care?” he asked gruffly. “After what Wraith did to you, you should hate him.”

“I also love him, and I can’t turn that off.” She sighed and flopped back against her pillow, the day’s events sapping what was left of her energy.

Shade crossed the room and sank down on the bed with her. Gently, he took her wrist, and his tattoo—dermoire, he’d said at one point—began to glow, and a pleasant tingling sensation spread through her veins.

“Funny things, humans,” he said under his breath. “Just when you think they’re all a bunch of morons, a smart one shows up and proves you wrong.”

She smiled drowsily. “I do believe that was a compliment. From a demon. Go figure.”

“Yup. Just when you think we’re all a bunch of morons…”

One shows up and makes you fall in love with him.