She didn’t point out that it was still her fault.

“Can you tell me what went wrong?”

“Yeah,” she said as she twisted out of his grip. “My psychotic mother fucked a demon, and here I am.” She laughed bitterly. “She always said she was a screwup. I guess I inherited that, huh? I mean, she couldn’t even abort us after eating a demon herb grown solely for killing off mistakes. Leave it to me to not get dying right.”

“Hey.” Eidolon reached for her again, but when she stepped back, he dropped his hand. Still, there was compassion in his eyes, compassion she didn’t want or need. “What happened to you as a child, what’s happening now… I’m sorry. I’ve been hard on you—”

“Whatever.” She cut him off, way too uncomfortable with the mushy-mushy, and impatient to find privacy so that when her guilt erupted no one would witness her pain or try to make it stop. “Let’s just figure out a way to end this.”

Her brother was intuitive enough to know she needed to change the subject, and he rolled with it as if he’d never tried to get all apologetic. “Tell me what happened in there with the warg.”

“There was too much of the virus in his system,” she said. “When it died, it clogged up his veins.”

Eidolon appeared to consider that. “Do you think that if you got to someone before so much of the virus was in the blood you could kill it without the same thing happening?”

“Maybe. But how will that help you? There’s no way I can cure every infected warg that way.”

“No, but we might be able to use the dead virus to create a vaccine or a cure by studying how the young virus was actually killed with your power.”

She frowned. “Can’t you use the virus from the werewolf who just…” Died.

Fortunately, Eidolon spared her from having to say it. “I’ll get samples, absolutely. The problem is that as the disease progresses in a patient, the virus degrades. By the time the patient dies, there isn’t a lot of structure left to study or use. None of the patients have developed antibodies, either. The R-XR has gotten some samples from newly infected wargs, but the problem is that the R-XR can’t kill the virus even in the lab. Nothing kills it. It has to age and die on its own. This is not a human virus, Sin. It’s a demon virus, which means human research and procedures are failing us. Hugely. It doesn’t behave like any human or animal virus I’ve ever seen. We might as well be working with a disease from outer space.”

The intercom squawked, and she nearly jumped out of her skin as Eidolon was called to the triage desk.

He gestured for Sin to follow him around the corner. “I’ll take care of this. Wait in the…” He trailed off, and she followed his gaze to where a nurse, a patchy-furred slogthu, was eyeing two males wearing the black jumpsuit uniform of the Carceris—underworld jailers who weren’t known for their gentle methods. One, a vampire with waist-length chestnut hair, moved to meet her brother. The other, humanoid and species unknown, looked around with curiosity.

And, as if the emergency department wasn’t crowded enough, Con stepped out of the Harrowgate.

“Eidolon.” The vamp held out his hand, and Eidolon clasped it with a firm shake.

“Seth. How can I help you?”

Seth’s ice-blue eyes shifted to Sin, sending a prickle of foreboding up her spine. “Is that your sister? Sin?”

Eidolon stiffened. “Why?”

The other demon stepped forward, overly large lips peeled back to reveal sharp teeth and a forked tongue. “Because,” he said, “we’re here for her. She’s under arrest.”

We’re here for her.

Someone on the Council had changed their mind. Son of a bitch. First, Con had been ambushed by Bran, and now this. He couldn’t catch a freaking break. Sin wouldn’t, either.

Con had been inside a Carceris prison, and it wasn’t Disneyland. The enchanted cells neutralized all species’ special powers and their unique requirements, so that vampires didn’t need blood, incubi didn’t need sex, Cruenti didn’t need to kill. But they also left the demons powerless, unable to defend themselves from whatever punishments the jailers dished out.

If Sin were taken, she could be kept like that for years. The demon justice system operated on the premise that all were guilty until proven innocent, so dragging heels meant years, even decades, of torture behind bars.

Con knew from experience.

He eased casually toward Sin, who stared at the Carceris officers, one a vamp, the other a wither drake, in disbelief. Eidolon put himself between the vampire and his sister, his expression glacial.

“What is she accused of?” Eidolon asked.

“Initiating an epidemic that is destroying wargs.” Seth’s voice carried through the emergency department as if he’d used a loudspeaker, and everyone within earshot stopped in their tracks to gawk. Even Bastien, who had obviously wasted no time in returning to work, froze solid, his push broom hovering over a pile of trash.

Sin squared her shoulders, taking on the Carceris guys without a trace of fear when any normal person would be shitting bricks. “And who is my accuser?”

“We weren’t given that information.” Seth whipped a set of Bracken cuffs out of his pocket. Developed by the Judicia to negate species’ abilities, these particular cuffs had tiny serrated spikes on the inside to prevent the wearer from struggling. “You will come.”

Con caught Sin’s arm. “Not yet,” he whispered in her ear. “But don’t fight. They aren’t affected by the Haven spell. They’ll beat the hell out of you, and there’s nothing you can do.”

“I’m not letting them take me,” she ground out.

“Neither am I,” Con said, and from the menace Eidolon was throwing off, neither was he. The wither drakemoved to block the Harrowgate, leaving Con and Sin only one way out. The ambulance bay. “I’m going to the parking lot. Give me ten seconds, and then run to the first ambulance on the left. Try to avoid the wither drake’s gaze. He can reduce you to a wrinkled bag of skin in about ten seconds. Reconstitution isn’t fun.”

To Sin’s credit, she didn’t argue. She simply nodded and moved up behind E, putting her closer to the sliding-glass parking lot doors.

“Who will I have to answer to?” she asked Seth, who gave her a long, assessing look.

“The Warg Council.”

“This is a Seminus Council matter,” Eidolon said, but the vampire shook his head.

“You know the laws, demon. If the two Councils cannot decide on a punishment—”

“I haven’t been taken before either Council,” Sin interrupted.

“The wargs are not required to take their issue to your species Council,” Seth said. “It’s recommended, to avoid wasting Justice Dealer time with frivolous suits, but it’s their choice.”

“You’re lucky the wargs haven’t slaughtered you outright.” The wither drake’s voice was monotone, bored, and Con suspected he was hoping that Sin would resist arrest. The dude was going to get his wish. And then he was going to wish he hadn’t.

Frost formed on Eidolon’s words. “The Seminus Council would have taken issue with Sin’s death.”

“Only if they could prove that the Warg Council was involved.”

True. If some lone warg killed Sin, nothing would be done unless Sin’s family took revenge on a personal level or contacted Justice Dealers, who would probably rule in a single warg’s favor despite Eidolon’s history as a Dealer. Con didn’t think the Sem brothers were really the type to go the legal route anyway. They were much more the “hunt them down and kill them painfully” type.

Con got that.

“Well, Sin,” Con said loudly, “best of luck. E, I’m heading out on a run.” He caught Eidolon’s dark gaze for just a second, long enough to deliver his unspoken message. I’ll get Sin out.

He headed for the sliding-glass doors, where Wraith was waiting, big body propped casually against the frame, hands tucked in his jeans pockets as he watched. Anticipation glittered in his blue eyes. Con had no idea when the demon had arrived, but he was glad for the extra muscle. Wraith loved a good fight.