Larissa Ione - Desire Unchained

But Runa’s familiarity with New York City, as well as her past association with Shade, had earned her this assignment.

“You shouldn’t hang out with nonhumans,” he growled. “You aren’t ready.”

“I didn’t ask for your permission.”

“You’re a baby in my world, Runa. Stay out of it.”

She waved her arm in an encompassing gesture. “Look around you, Shade. I can’t get in much deeper. I certainly don’t have a choice.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s your fault I’m in this world in the first place.”

“You do realize that as a warg, your lifespan has quadrupled, right? So you should be thanking me.”

“Assuming I don’t die in the next couple of days. Or get killed by The Aegis. Or by other wargs.” She huffed. “If you’re expecting gratitude, you’ll be waiting a long time. Not that we have a long time.”

“We’re going to be okay.”

“And you know this how?”

“My brother can sense me. He’ll find us.”

Too bad her brother couldn’t sense her. Heck, neither he nor the R-XR would know she was missing until after the full moon when she was supposed to check in. She watched as Shade checked his bleeding foot and returned pressure to the wound. He didn’t so much as flinch, his movements precise and coldly efficient.

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” She’d asked him the question a long time ago, but his answer had been vague— a few —and then he’d changed the subject as deftly as a politician.

“One sister—the Umber. Two brothers. Wraith and Eidolon.”

“Are they Umber demons, too?”

He shook his head. “No. They’re Sems like me.”

“How is it that you have an Umber sister?”

“We share a mother. With my brothers, I share a father, but our mothers are all different species.”

“So … you’re half-breeds?”

“No. All Seminus demons are purebred and male. There are no female Sems, so after s’genesis , we impregnate females of other species. The offspring are born purebred Seminus demons, though everyone inherits minor traits from his dam.”

Interesting. “Why would these other species volunteer to have Seminus children?”

“They don’t. Sexually mature Seminus demons gain the ability to shapeshift into the males of other species. So basically, we trick them into having sex with us. If that doesn’t work, rape does.”

“Nice.”

Shade rolled his eyes. “We’re demons. But if it makes you feel any better, most of us are disgusted by our destiny until we go through s’genesis . Then we don’t give a shit anymore.”

“So you do care?”

“Right now, yes. The idea of deceiving or raping any female in order to knock her up disgusts me. So does the reality of what happens to the infants.”

“Which is?”

“Most are slaughtered at birth. Few demons are willing to raise a demon of another species, let alone one that was conceived through trickery or rape.”

“So I’m guessing the fathers don’t have anything to do with the children.”

“Most of us never meet the male that sired us. All we know is the family that raised us, though we can sense our brothers.”

“So you never knew your father?” She shifted to get more comfortable, wincing at the dull ache in her ankle.

“All I knew of him were secondhand stories.”

“Do all sexual demons reproduce like that?”

“Nope. Most incubi and succubi use humans for reproduction, but Sems can’t. Impregnating humans results in cambions.”

“Cambions?”

“Sterile half-breeds.” The way he said it, with a slight sneer, told her what he thought of breeding with humans.

Apparently, screwing them was just fine, however. She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice as she asked, “So your mother’s an Umber, right?”

Shade nodded. Runa didn’t know much about the cave-dwelling species, had only skimmed the information she’d found while researching demons to identify Shade’s breed. Apparently, they were gray-skinned and humanoid, though they avoided contact with humans. They were extremely social in their family orders, but were isolated within the demon world—probably because they were the natural prey of some of the more vicious species of demons.

“What about your brothers?” She leaned forward, intensely curious. She’d had a rude introduction into the demon world, but once she got over the shock, she’d dedicated every spare minute to learning as much as she could. “What species are their mothers?”

“My older brother, Eidolon, was born to a Justice demon, and Wraith’s mother was a vampire.”

She blinked. “I didn’t think vampires could breed.”

“They can’t. Wraith’s an anomaly.”

Somewhere in the dungeon, something screamed, and Runa shivered.

“What about your parents?” she asked quickly, and a little shakily. “Was what you told me when we were dating true? Your mother lives in South America and your dad is dead?”

A long, awkward silence filled the cell. Finally, just as Runa was about to give up on getting an answer, Shade said, “My mother was killed a couple of months ago.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Did you kill her?”

Her voice cracked with astonishment. “No.”

“Then don’t be sorry.”

“Am I annoying you with my questions?” she snapped.

“Yep.” He shrugged. “But it’s not like we have a lot else to do.”

As if on cue, footsteps pounded outside. Runa crouched, ready to attack, but Shade remained where he was, looking for all the world as if he was lounging on a couch with a beer. If the fact that he was nude bothered him, it didn’t show.

The door swung open. The Nightlash who had dragged Shade out of the cell earlier entered and dropped a gym bag on the floor. A robed figure slid inside behind the other demon, its face hidden inside a deep hood, though she thought she caught a glimpse of some sort of mask. Only the creature’s hands were visible—clawlike, skeletal things wrapped in leathery skin. Some of its fingers were missing, but that didn’t stop him from holding a wicked-looking spiked club.

It turned to Shade. “I see you’ve recovered from your ordeal.”

“That’s what happens when you hire second-rate whores like Solice. You should have instructed her in the proper art of blowjobs.”

The thing hissed. “I’m going to make you suffer.”

“Promises, promises,” Shade drawled, turning away to study his fingernails.

Runa could practically feel the rage billowing like steam from the robed creature. “I will make what I did to your sister look like fun.”

Very slowly, Shade lifted his head, his dark eyes narrowed and gleaming with hatred. “Where is she? What did you do to her?”

“Do you really want to know?”

Shade leaped to his feet. “Tell me!”

The creature nodded to the Nightlash, who opened the bag on the floor and pulled out what looked like a leather blanket.

Oh, God. Runa’s stomach lurched. She felt the blood drain from her face as the robed one cackled.

“Umber skins are worth a fortune on the underworld market. She’s going to make someone a fine cloak.”

A blast of darkness hit Runa a second before the icy wind, and then Shade let loose an agonized wail that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

Kynan Morgan was probably the biggest pain in the ass on staff at UGH. Scratch that. Not probably. He was, and he knew it.

He also didn’t give a shit. He didn’t give a shit about much anymore. His give-a-shit meter had broken nearly a year ago when his wife betrayed him and then died at the hands of her lover. One of her lovers, anyway. The human one.