Larissa Ione: Desire Unchained

Writing can be such a solitary process, but to make a book come together, so many people are involved.

Thank you to the wonderful art department at Grand Central Publishing—you are truly amazing.

And a huge thanks to my wonderful agent, Roberta Brown, for making this book possible, and ditto to my brilliant editor, Amy Pierpont—your guidance has been invaluable. I’m so lucky to have both of you.

I am also blessed with friends who will drop everything to give me a quick read or critique, so I need to offer my deepest thanks to Lara Adrian and Stephanie Tyler. I owe you!

The Aegis —Society of human warriors dedicated to protecting the world from evil. See: Guardians, Regent, Sigil.

Carceris —The jailers of the underworld. All demon species send representatives to serve terms in the Carceris. Carceris members are responsible for apprehending demons accused of violating demon law, and for acting as guards in the Carceris prisons.

Council —All demon species and breeds are governed by a Council that makes laws and metes out punishment for individual members of their species or breed.

Dresdiin —The demon equivalent of angels.

Guardians —Warriors for The Aegis, trained in combat techniques, weapons, magic. Upon induction into The Aegis, all Guardians are presented with an enchanted piece of jewelry bearing the Aegis shield, which, among other things, allows for night vision and the ability to see through demon invisibility enchantment.

Harrowgate —Vertical portals, invisible to humans, which demons use to travel between locations on Earth and Sheoul.

Infadre —A female of any demon species who has been impregnated by a Seminus demon.

Maleconcieo —Highest level of ruling demon boards, served by a representative from each species Council. The U.N. of the demon world.

Orgesu —A demon sex slave, often taken from breeds bred specifically for the purpose of providing sex.

Regent —Head(s) of local Aegis cells.

S’genesis —Final maturation cycle for Seminus demons. Occurs at one hundred years of age. A post s’genesis male is capable of procreation and possesses the ability to shapeshift into the male of any demon species.

Sheoul —Demon realm. Located deep in the bowels of the Earth, accessible only by Harrowgates.

Sheoulic —Universal demon language spoken by all, though many species speak their own language.

Sigil —Board of twelve humans known as Elders, who serve as the supreme leaders of The Aegis. Based in Berlin, they oversee all Aegis cells worldwide.

Ter’taceo —Demons who can pass as human, either because their species is naturally human in appearance or because they can shapeshift into human form.

Therionidryo —Term a were-beast uses for a person he or she bit and turned into another were-beast.

Therionidrysi —Any survivor of a were-beast attack. Term used to clarify the relationship between the sire and his therionidryo.

Ufelskala —A scoring system for demons, based on their degree of evil. All supernatural creatures and evil humans can be categorized into the five Tiers, with the Fifth Tier composed of the worst of the wicked.

Classification of Demons, as listed by Baradoc, Umber demon, using the demon breed Seminus as an example:

Kingdom: Animalia

Class: Demon

Family: Sexual Demon

Genus: Terrestrial

Species: Incubus

Breed: Seminus

Three Years Ago …

“He’s gone. Let’s call it.”

Shade ignored his partner and crunched another series of compressions into the shapeshifter’s chest. Beneath his palms, cracked ribs grated with each downward stroke.

One—one thousand, crunch. Two—one thousand, crunch. Shade’s own heart was pounding, pumping enough blood per minute to fuel Underworld General’s lava-thermal generator, but the patient’s heart didn’t so much as spark. Three—one thousand, crunch. Shade’s thigh muscles screamed with pain, cramping after Gods knew how long kneeling in blood next to the patient. Four—one thousand, crunch. A tingle spread down the dermoire that encased his arm from his right shoulder to his hand as he used his specialized gift to force the patient’s heart to beat.

“Shade. Stop.” Skulk, Shade’s half-sister and paramedic partner, put a dainty gray hand on his arm. “We did all we could.”

Knowing Skulk was right didn’t make giving up any easier, and Shade didn’t have enough breath left in his lungs to curse about it. Panting, he ceased CPR and sat back on his heels on the filth-strewn floor of the abandoned brewery. His arms trembled from exertion, and his stethoscope hung heavily around his neck.

He ground his teeth as he looked into the glassy eyes of his deceased patient. The vic was just a kid. Fourteen, maybe. He’d probably only recently learned how to shift out of his human form to whatever species his family belonged to. The telltale birthmark of a true shifter, a red, star-shaped mole behind the left ear, had barely formed.

“This is bullshit,” Shade muttered, standing. Nearby, the two False Angels who had called in the report to the hospital stood, their sweet, virginal appearances belied by the sinister glint in their eyes.

“You didn’t see who dropped him here?” he asked.

One of the angel impostors shook her head, her golden hair swishing against her white gown. “He was just lying there. Peaceful.”

“He looked peaceful with half his organs missing?”

The other False Angel smiled. “Touchy, touchy.” She trailed her fingers suggestively along the low-cut neckline of the gown no true angel would wear. “How about we help you relax, incubus?”

“Yes,” the other one purred. “I’ve always loved a man in uniform.”

The first False Angel nodded. “Veragoth does so enjoy haunting police stations.”

“Mmm …” The female called Veragoth twirled a strand of hair around a finger and swept her hungry gaze from Shade’s face to his feet. “But I’m starting to think I should be hanging out with paramedics.”

Yeah, his black, BDU-style medic uniform made all the females hot even when he wasn’t casting off the fuck-me pheromones that came standard issue for Seminus demons. But for once, Shade didn’t feel like getting naked with two beautiful females. He was exhausted, angry, and damned sick of the newest rash of demon mutilations. Worse, no one gave a rat’s ass that someone was chopping up demons for their parts and selling them on the underworld black market. It had been going on since time began, but few cared.

Shade did.

He was the asshole who got called to scenes where he rarely made a difference in whether or not the vic died. Most were too far gone. Or dead.