Before that night, Luc had been lying low, avoiding catching the Council’s attention. He’d retained much of his humanity, had been living among humans, doing the right thing by locking himself up every full moon.

Then the slayers had attacked. They’d broken into his house and into his locked cell where he and Ula had been about to mate. They’d killed her and seriously injured him before he managed to escape. That night screamed through his memories, his nightmares.

He had no idea how long or how far he ran, keeping to the shadows and ducking behind parked cars, but when the adrenaline ran out and he began to fade again, he was in unfamiliar territory, caught on the edge of the city and well out of his suburban neighborhood.

Fire seared his lungs with each breath, and nausea tumbled in his stomach.

Ula.

A scream ripped from his throat, ringing as a howl through the darkness. Going up on two legs, he opened his mind, sought the nearest Harrowgate. North. Several blocks away. Too far, but his only hope.

He loped toward it, no longer bothering with concealment. Operating on instinct alone, he rounded a corner and slammed into a woman. She smelled of rage and hurt that veered instantly to stark, icy terror. The emotions collided with his identical ones, intensifying them in a massive explosion.

Out-of-control hunger, the need to take something apart, made him tremble as he towered over her.

“Run, Little Red Riding Hood.”

In beast form, his words came out as a snarl, and she screamed like a f**king B-movie horror actress. The slayers would hear. Panic eroded what little remained of his humanity, and he struck, sinking his teeth into the soft spot between her shoulder and neck. She pounded against his chest, kicked wildly in futile defense as he shook her like a terrier with a rat.

“This way!”

A slayer’s voice broke him out of his murderous rage. The woman moaned, hanging limp from his jaws. In the distance, the sound of pounding footsteps echoed off the surrounding buildings.

With a toss of his head, he flung the woman’s unconscious body behind a Dumpster and sprinted down the sidewalk, bouncing off light posts and street signs in his insane bid to get to the Harrowgate. To the hospital.

He’d made it to UG, and Eidolon had saved his life. But what remained of his humanity had bled out through the deep wounds the slayers had dealt him.

He’d finally become the monster he’d always feared, but he couldn’t dredge up even an ounce of give-a-shit. It was only a matter of time before Wraith made good on the promise he’d made, the one that would ensure that Luc wouldn’t prey upon innocent humans.

“Why do you care?” Luc asked Shade. “She’s not your mate.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“She’s not marked.” Shade’s throat bore the mate-mark, but the female’s arms were bare.

“I’m aware of that, warg.”

Luc shrugged. “Whatever. Just keep her away from me. I’d hate to have to claim First Rights.”

Shade’s eyes went red, and the female in his arms bared her teeth. “You wouldn’t,” she snarled.

“Try me.”

“You wouldn’t live long enough to claim them,” Shade spat.

“And you wouldn’t live long after you killed me,” Luc shot back. “Isn’t that right, Doc?”

Eidolon had served as a Justice Dealer for a time, upholding demon law. Warg law stated that any warg may, within the first year of siring another, claim his therionidrysi as a mate—willing or not—or kill him or her without consequence. Were Shade to kill Luc in order to prevent him from claiming First Rights, demon law would require Shade’s death as punishment.

“No one is killing anyone,” Eidolon said. “Shade, take Runa to a patient room. Luc, go home and cool off.” He turned to a nearby nurse. “You. Page Kynan. This hospital is falling apart, and it ends now.”

Roag followed Shade at a discreet distance as his brother carried his murderous whore of a mate down the hall.

I’ll avenge you, my darling Sheryen.

He shook with the desire to kill Runa now that she was within reach, but he had to play this smart, and time his revenge with care. If all went well, he could take out his brothers and the whore at the same time. Though maybe he’d let Shade live just so the curse would kick in. Watching Runa die slowly and painfully would definitely bring on the worst effects of the curse, and then he’d spend eternity with those memories running through his head.

The thought made him laugh. Shade didn’t break his stride, but he did look over his shoulder, and for a moment, Roag held his breath. He’d taken the form of a male Croucher, an ugly, man-sized demon. He was pretending to be a patient, which allowed him to witness the interesting confrontation between Luc and Runa in the ER, and though Roag knew Shade wouldn’t recognize him, the fear still paralyzed him. He was so close to finally getting his revenge, and he couldn’t blow it now.

Shade rounded a corner, and Roag breathed again. He needed to get to the lab and the special storeroom where Eidolon kept his rare potions and artifacts. His brother’s collection of magical and mythical objects was extensive, and Roag knew exactly what he was after.

But first, in order to gain access to that area, he needed to take the form of a trusted staff member. One whose death would be a major blow to his brothers.

He hurried back to the emergency department, where Luc was heading out the sliding doors to the ambulance bay. Luc walked as if he owned the place, his arrogance topped only by Wraith’s. Taking down the grumpy warg would be a pleasure.

Roag slipped into a curtained room and took a form he’d never taken; Shade’s. Quickly, he strode out of the ER and found Luc gathering his gear from one of the two ambulances.

“You going home?”

Luc looked up from where he stood on the driver’s side of the cab, his gaze wary. “You heard E tell me to take some time off. Why?”

Roag shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going anywhere near Runa.”

“I was messing with you, Sem. I’m outta here until the First Rights time is up.”

“Thrilled to hear it,” Roag muttered. “I’m gonna grab something from the rig.”

Roag hopped into the box section of the ambulance and snagged the drug box. He had no idea how much of any of the drugs he’d need to kill Luc, but he figured that if he combined them all into the largest of the syringes, he’d at least knock the guy out so he could break his neck. No way was he going up against the warg without insurance.

Just as he slid the box back into place, Luc climbed into the truck. Roag concealed the syringe at his side. He needed to get Luc out of the rig. The Haven spell safeguarded the inside of the ambulances, but the parking lot was unprotected.

“What are you doing?” Luc’s gaze shifted from the drug box to Roag’s face. “I’ve already done inventory.”

Roag rolled his eyes. They inventoried this shit? His brothers were so f**king uptight.

“This is my hospital. I do what I want, shitshifter,” Roag said in his most taunting, arrogant Shade-voice. Luc was blocking the back exit, so Roag went through the side door, hoping Luc would follow. As he stepped down, he feigned a hard fall. “Ow, f**k. Luc! I think I broke my leg!”

Luc came around the side of the ambulance. “I should leave you there,” he said, but he dropped to his knees at Roag’s side. “Hold still, Sem.”

Roag took in the scene. No witnesses. And when Luc put his hand on Roag’s leg, Roag struck. He buried the syringe deep in Luc’s belly and jammed down the plunger.

Luc roared and slammed Roag into the side of the ambulance. The impact knocked Roag out of Shade’s form, but by then it didn’t matter. Luc was on his knees, wheezing. Surprise flashed in the warg’s eyes, followed, oddly enough, by a strange calm. If he didn’t know any better, Roag would think Luc wanted to die.

Happy to help out.

Slowly, Luc slid to the ground, his chest rattling with each struggling breath. Death rattles. A beautiful sound, and one Roag couldn’t wait to hear coming out of Runa.

Luc twitched, blew out a breath, and moved no more. Roag felt for a pulse … it was there, but weak. Luc wouldn’t last another five minutes.

As quickly as he could, Roag dragged Luc’s heavy ass into the back of the ambulance. Next, he’d anonymously notify the authorities, tell them Shade had killed Luc to prevent First Rights, and once they nabbed Shade, Runa would be left unprotected.

“Luc?” The female voice floated through the parking lot.

Roag shifted into Luc’s form and leaped out of the ambulance. “Yeah?”

Two paramedics, a male and a female, stalked toward him. He closed the rig door, concealing Luc inside.

“The Sup said you’re supposed to go home. We’re going to be on call today.”

Roag eyed the vehicle, cursing his luck. Then again, if he played his cards right, he wouldn’t need to keep Luc’s form for long. Just long enough to get into the lab and then plant a suggestion in Wraith’s head.

Smiling, he strode past the medics. “No problem. I’m outta here.”

Shade didn’t say a word to Runa as he carried her to a private patient room and placed her gently on the bed. The same eerie red lights that illuminated the rest of the hospital bathed the room in a garnet wash, creating stark shadows against Shade’s already sinister, intense features, but his gaze was warm.

“Thank you.” She was grateful for his assistance; her head throbbed so badly that she doubted she could have walked to the room on her own two feet. Besides, it had felt good to be cradled in Shade’s powerful arms. “But you might have mentioned that the hospital was under a spell that prevents violence.”

“I shouldn’t have had to,” he ground out, but the gentle stroke of his fingers over hers belied his harsh words.

“I’m sorry I humiliated you in your own hospital.” She averted her gaze, but looking at the skulls lining the walls didn’t exactly comfort her.