Larissa Ione - Sin Undone

“You didn’t need to.” He held her for a moment longer, and then passed her back to Con.

“I feel like a football,” she muttered, as she dabbed at her eyes. But she wouldn’t change a thing. Except the subject, away from so much sap. “So, what happened to Lycus? Where is he?”

Wraith snorted. “Between a Chevette and a Mustang. And on the hood of a Thunderbird. And all over the grille of a—”

“Got it,” she said, holding up her hand. Not much made her queasy, but being brought back from the dead seemed to be wreaking havoc with her stomach.

Wraith gestured to Valko, who now sat chained to an old Ford pickup. “I got him to talk. He admitted to getting Lycus to kill you. Guess the pricolici were going to forgive his crimes and put him on the Warg Council if he did. They were also going to try to buy him out of assassin service from the new master.”

“Which is why getting my ring wasn’t an issue,” she mused. “He wanted it, but probably figured that either way he was getting a good deal. Asshole.” She hoped the punishment Valko was going to “volunteer” for was really painful. “How did you guys manage to get the R-XR here?”

“Arik,” Kynan explained. “Once we had your location, the R-XR tapped into government satellites to determine how many enemies we’d be up against, and since there were a few dozen, they called in a local team to back us up.”

Tayla snapped her stang into its belt sheath and slung her arm around Eidolon’s waist. “I’d have called in the local Aegis cell, too, but The Aegis is still fired up about what happened in Canada with the wargs. Wraith wiped the Guardians, but Command still knows something went down to cause injuries and the one dead Aegi. Didn’t think it would be wise to give them a shot at revenge.”

“Does this mean Arik is in the clear and can get the hell out of my cave?” Shade asked, and Kynan nodded.

“They couldn’t afford his loss anyway.”

Luc parted the crowd and strode up to Con. With a guttural curse, he hauled off and punched him in the shoulder. “That, you asshole, is because you made me kill you and didn’t bother to mention you wouldn’t stay dead.”

Sin punched Con, too. Same place. Maybe vampires bruised easily. “Yeah. Would have been nice to know.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, and then he kissed her, long and hard, and she forgave him. “I promise to make it up to you.”

“Dude.” Luc stepped back, hands up. “You don’t need to make it up to me.”

“So,” Lore said, as he jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “I hate to be a party pooper, but I’d better head home.”

Oh, damn. Sin hated what he had to deal with now. “I’ll take care of you. Idess doesn’t need to see what you’re going to go through.” Besides, Sin had nursed Lore through recovery before.

“I agree.” Lore looked up at the cloudless night and sighed. “But you know her. She’ll want to be there.”

Of course she would. Sin would go through the poison pits of eastern Sheoul to be able to take care of Con if he were suffering.

“I have a better idea,” Eidolon said. “Come to the hospital. We’ll all take care of you.”

Wraith gave an enthusiastic nod. “E’s liberal with the painkillers.”

“Yup,” Shade agreed.

“We won’t take no for an answer.” That from Eidolon, who was using his no-nonsense doctor voice, which somehow still rang with compassion.

Lore stood there, emotion playing across his face, probably just like hers. He’d allowed their brothers in before she had, but he’d been alone for so long that, clearly, he still hadn’t gotten used to the way they rallied together as fiercely as they fought.

“Okay,” he said roughly.

Kynan shouted at the R-XR guys to wrap it up, and gestured to Tayla and the Guardian vampire, who joined in the gathering of wargs.

“You guys go ahead,” Sin said. “Con and I will be at the hospital later.”

“You sure?” Shade asked, and Con nodded.

Sin could tell the guys wanted to argue, but they left with Eidolon’s sisters, leaving her alone with Con. Relatively alone, anyway. Kynan, Tayla, and the military dudes still milled around the junkyard, but they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them.

Con opened his mouth to say something, but Sin spoke first. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have fought you when you wanted to bond with me at the apartment. I should have done it. I should have—”

Con put his finger to her lips. “Shh. You spent most of your life belonging to someone, and belonging to me was the last thing you needed.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Still, it was stupid. I should have trusted you then. But, Con, you didn’t need to kill yourself. And how did you become a vampire?”

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

His gaze glinted with diamond shards in the light of the moon, holding hers with its intensity. “Can’t.”

Sin’s first instinct should have been to get angry, but he’d asked her to trust him, and she’d have to trust that if he could tell her, he would. In any case, the important thing was that he was here, not dead. Well, sort of not dead.

“So… no more blood addiction?”

“Nope.”

“Do you still have to do the thing with your clan?”

“Nope.”

“But do you still need to feed? Like a normal vampire?” Say yes .

“Yep.”

Her heart gave a happy thump. “Do you need to feed soon?”

His fangs flashed. “Oh, yeah.” The way he said it made her shivery. Melty. Total putty.

“Then maybe we should go?”

“Good idea.” He caught her, hauled her against him. “I love you, Sin. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

“You won’t,” she whispered. “Because I love you, too. And that’s something I never thought would happen.”

“Then let’s go, and I’ll show you exactly how much I love you.”

Since Sin didn’t have a home, and Con’s had been destroyed—and because there was no way in hell he was going to take her back to the London flat—Con had checked them into a five-star Manhattan hotel. He booked the room for the night, but after six hours of indulgence—in bed, the shower, the sofa, the floor—they headed to the hospital to check on Lore.

As Sin had predicted, he was in misery. He looked like he’d been tortured for days, but thanks to meds, Shade’s gift, and Idess’s bedside vigil, Sin said Lore didn’t look half as bad as usual.

Which was fucking scary, given that Con had seen roadkill in better shape.

Sin and Con didn’t hang around; no doubt Lore didn’t need gawkers. They slipped out of Lore’s room and headed for the Harrowgate. He planned to take her to an early breakfast, and then they were going to stay at Shade and Runa’s house. It was a temporary arrangement until he and Sin could find a place to live, but Shade and Runa were generous enough to let them shack up as long as they wanted. Besides, Luc and Kar were staying there, too, so the place was already in use.

Horror Hotel, as Wraith called Shade’s house. “Vampires, demons, and werewolves check in… and then they make out, and—”

Serena had dragged him away, whispering something in his ear that had made him let out an erotic growl, and then they were gone.

As Con and Sin approached the Harrowgate, it flashed and a tank of a blood-bay stallion leaped out, scattering staff and patients. Atop the horse sat a massive male in hard leather armor. His hair was short, reddish brown, and his eyes were as black as Sin’s.

“What the hell are you doing?” Eidolon shouted, but the big male swiveled his head and focused his gaze on Sin with such intensity that Con stiffened.