“The words you just said?” Shade asked.

“Yep. So lay it on me.” He held out his hand. “We have to be touching. Glad you put your pants on.”

Shade scooted back, wishing he didn’t feel so shaky, because he’d be on his feet and out the door if he could. “Are you crazy? I’m not transferring it to you!” He kept backing up, but Wraith stalked him.

“Yeah, bro, you are.”

“Fuck. You.”

“I’m never going to fall in love, Shade. The curse won’t affect me. Ever. So just do it.”

Shade shook his head so hard his hair stung his face. “I will not.”

“Damn you, Shade.” Wraith’s voice was pure whisper. “You’ve saved my life so many times. Let me do this for you.”

“No. I—”

Shade broke off as a feeling of unease centered in his chest. Evil prickled over his skin and tightened around his neck like a noose.

“Runa,” he gasped. “Where is she?” He bounded to his feet, grabbing Eidolon’s arm when a wave of dizziness nearly sent him to his knees.

“Probably still talking to her brother,” Wraith said.

Shade swore, his head swimming. “Outside. She’s outside. Something’s wrong.”

Eidolon’s gaze caught his. “The Carceris.”

“Maybe a jaguar got her,” Wraith offered, less than helpfully, though at least he was back to his usual self.

E shot Wraith a glare before turning to Shade. “Stay here. Wraith and I will take care of it.”

“Like hell,” Shade growled. The choking feeling had faded, leaving him unsettled and unable to sense Runa’s mood. He could feel her proximity, but even that was fuzzy. He broke away from Eidolon and hauled ass toward the exit.

“Shade, wait! We aren’t done!” Wraith followed, and behind him, Shade heard E’s curse.

If those Carceris bastards had hurt Runa to get to him, he’d kill someone. Or several someones.

He burst out the side entrance and braced himself for a confrontation with the Nightlash and Seminus he’d seen earlier. No doubt they’d have hellhounds as well, and those beasts loved a good fight. Well-trained Carceris hounds wouldn’t kill their target, but they’d fall just short of it. Worse, they were perpetually horny, and what they did to a demon when it was down amounted to a lot more than a little leg-humping.

With Wraith and Eidolon on his heels, he charged down the path to the south side of the cliffs where the waterfall met the pool, not bothering with stealth. Ahead, in the clearing, Runa lay on the ground, her body crumpled next to a tree.

“Son of a—” Something struck him in the head, and pain exploded in his skull. He wheeled toward the source, a slimy Drec demon holding a cudgel.

Wraith struck with the bullwhip. How he’d managed to grab the thing while on the run was a question for later. His brother wielded it as if it was an extension of his arm, and the Drec’s face split open, sending blood and teeth flying.

More creatures burst from the brush, but Shade weaved around them or barreled through them, his entire focus on Runa.

Almost there. Almost …

A massive four-winged creature dropped in front of him. A demon he’d never seen before, a hideous black beast that smelled—and looked—like rotting flesh. Its head was little more than a gaping mouth full of rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Not good.

Behind him, the sounds of battle raged. He figured his brothers were dealing out the worst of the punishment, but he couldn’t look back. The winged thing was between him and Runa, and nothing would get between them ever again.

Shade dropped, swept his leg out to catch the creature in one of its bony ankles. It crashed to the ground but was up in an instant. He struck hard, crunching his fist into its gut. The spongy, wet flesh sucked his hand into the demon’s body up to his elbow. Hell’s fires, that was nasty.

Shade spun away, bringing his foot up between the thing’s legs. It screamed and slammed a heavy wing down on Shade’s shoulders. He ducked, taking only a glancing blow, but an explosion of pain and the smell of blood told him the strike had been damaging enough. Another beast landed next to him, its wings stirring up the trees, creating a whirlwind of vines and leaves. Something struck his back, the shock of the impact stunning him.

What the hell was going on? This wasn’t a Carceris operation, not unless they’d changed their methods in recent years.

“Khroyesh!”

The word, spoken in Sheoulic, the universal demonic language, meant to stand down, which might have been a relief if it hadn’t been uttered in Roag’s damaged, deep rasp.

The winged monsters backed away. Roag stepped out from behind one of the things, a barely conscious Runa in his arms. He wore some sort of brace on one hand. Wicked, Freddy Kruger—like extensions gave him sharp fingers where his own should have been.

“Stay where you are,” Roag said, bringing the blades to Runa’s throat, “or she dies.”

“Trust me, brother, you don’t want to do that.”

Roag raised his eyebrows, dark, sickly things that hadn’t completely grown back after the fire. “You aren’t in a position to make threats.” He nodded at Wraith and E, who were on the verge of being overwhelmed. “Tell them to stop.” To emphasize his command, he slashed Runa’s cheek with a blade. She whimpered, but through the bond Shade knew she was too out of it to feel much pain.

“Damn you.” Shade struggled to keep his voice low and even, when what he wanted to do was scream.

“Do it!” Another flick of a blade opened a gash dangerously close to Runa’s jugular.

The scent of Runa’s blood filled Shade with a bitter, sharp rage. He wanted to shift form into something horrible and bite Roag’s f**king head off. But he couldn’t risk Runa, and even if he succeeded in killing Roag, the army of monsters he’d brought with him would probably take them all out.

“Wraith! Eidolon!” He didn’t take his eyes off Runa as he shouted to his brothers. “Back off!”

“Not happening, brother.” Wraith’s words were mushy, gurgled, and Shade suspected his little brother was speaking through split lips and a mouth full of blood. Which meant the taste was on his tongue, and between that and the pain, he’d gone into vampire bloodlust.

Shit.

“Stop him,” Roag warned, digging his blades into the delicate skin between Runa’s throat and jaw.

Shade’s heart hammered hard, and cold sweat broke out on his brow. “E! You’ve got to stop Wraith. Now!”

Torn between staying as close to Runa as possible and helping E take down Wraith, Shade hesitated, but the sound of Eidolon getting pummeled by Wraith tipped the scales. Shade darted toward them. He caught Wraith from behind, managed to pin his arms to his sides, but only for a moment. Wraith had the advantage on any day, but add to that the bloodlust, and gaining control of him turned into a vicious battle.

They muscled him to the ground, but damn, Wraith was strong and pissed, and with the way his eyes burned red and his fangs had elongated into daggers, Shade doubted Wraith even knew who he was fighting anymore.

Eidolon used his weight to hold Wraith down while Shade channeled power into him, using his gift to slow Wraith’s heart and breathing, then reaching deep to cut off the adrenaline flow.

“Ease up, bro. Idle down,” Shade murmured, even as he looked over his shoulder to make sure Runa was okay and none of Roag’s minions were going to launch a surprise attack.

Bringing Wraith down was agonizingly slow, and most likely futile. As soon as they let him up, Wraith would probably go ballistic on Roag’s demons.

“Very, very good,” Roag said. “But honestly, I can’t believe you two haven’t figured out that killing Wraith would make life a whole lot easier.”

Eidolon bared his teeth. “You know what would be easier, you f**king—”

“Don’t.” Shade gripped E’s arm and squeezed. “I can’t risk Runa.”

The wind rustled the leaves in the trees, bringing with it the scent of brimstone. Hellhounds.

“Where’d you get the trackers?” Eidolon eased off Wraith, who leaped nimbly to his feet and stood there, quivering with the amount of restraint it must have taken to not go for Roag’s throat.

Roag stroked his blades through Runa’s hair, and now it was Shade who had to restrain himself, especially when locks of her gorgeous hair began to flutter to the ground. “What, you think I don’t have my own kennel?”

It was on the tip of Shade’s tongue to say Roag couldn’t control his own female, let alone a hellhound, but with Runa still in danger, Shade kept his mouth shut. Two Carceris officers stepped into the clearing, held prisoner by Roag’s minions.

So that was how he’d found Shade. He’d taken the Carceris officers prisoner and forced them to use the hounds to track him. Son of a bitch.

“Shade?” Runa’s voice was quiet but steady, and pride swelled in him. He smelled no fear from her, instead her strength permeated the air. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, lirsha.”

Roag snorted. “You’re fading, you know. I’m thinking it’s not okay.”

A deep, low growl rumbled in Runa’s throat. Shade’s pulse went tachy with panic. “Runa, no!”

She struck. A double blow, one sharp kick to Roag’s shin and a reverse punch to his face. A shockwave of energy hit Shade; she was trying to shift.

“Little bitch,” Roag hissed, and buried one of his blades in her shoulder. Her scream rent the air. “This blade is solid silver. You can’t shift.”

A veil of crimson came down over Shade’s vision. He sprang forward, because he was going to tear out Roag’s throat. Something pierced his neck. A dart, drugged, no doubt. He fell to the ground hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. Determined to get to Runa, he yanked the dart from his skin. Eidolon and Wraith’s furious shouts told him they’d fallen victim to the same fate.