Page 30 of Bond of Passion

Lore looked down at his booted feet, and her hair stood on end. “Lore? Yo, bro. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

He jammed his hands into his scrub pockets and cursed. “Last week. Some jackass I took out like forty years ago caught me in the parking lot. Luc smashed him with an ambulance before I could kill him myself. Again.”

Fury made her hot enough to forget how cold it was in the room. “And you didn’t think to tell me someone tried to unalive you?”

“Unalive? You’ve been on DemonTok way too much.”

She jammed her fists on her hips. “And you’re deflecting.”

“It was nothing, Sin.” Lore fetched his soda. No doubt he wished it was spiked with whisky and ashleech right now. “We’re all staying with Ares and Cara for a while, so Idess and Mace are safe. But everyone is in the same boat right now. Everyone who ever killed an underworlder is a target for revenge. We’ll always need to be on our toes. Every one of us. Shade, E, Wraith, Con, Idess, the Horsemen…heck, yesterday Kynan got jumped by a blanchier demon he decapitated back in his Army days. Until Hades gets Sheoul-gra back up and running, we’re all screwed.”

Even that wouldn’t help. The damage was done. A new holding tank for demon souls wouldn’t get rid of the billions of demon souls that had been given bodies and set loose when the first holding tank was destroyed. The new Sheoul-gra would merely be there to hold the souls of newly dead demons before it eventually reincarnated them. So, her brother was right; they were screwed for a long time. Centuries, probably.

“Okay, well, now that we’ve covered all the doom and gloom, I’ll head upstairs and see if Tavin thinks Mako could be after—”

Lore’s phone beeped, cutting her off. He fished it out of his scrub pants pocket, swiped, and made a self-satisfied sound of triumph. “Ha. Confirmed. The lab found traces of lithium, magnesium, and Sheoulic brimstone, all ingredients needed for a bone bomb.”

“Sheoulic brimstone? What’s the difference between that and human realm brimstone?”

“Brimstone in the human realm is also known as sulfur.” His fingers flew over the phone’s screen in what she assumed was a reply to the notification. “In Sheoul, brimstone is red, and it burns hotter and is highly explosive under the right conditions, such as exposure to blood. It’s one of the few substances that can burn a soul. That’s why it’s used a lot in ghost containment rites, rituals, and spells.”

“Yikes.”

“It’s kinda cool, actually.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket. “DART is experimenting with it to create soul traps.”

Ooh, that was wicked cool. Hades, who had recently been anointed Guardian of the Dead, said it could be decades before the new Sheoul-gra was complete. In the meantime, with nowhere to go, souls were wreaking havoc all over Sheoul and the human realm. If the Demon Activity Response Team could trap them, it would go a long way toward settling things down. Humans were fully aware of the existence of underworlders now, and they weren’t handling the truth well.

The office door swung open, and Eidolon strode inside the way he always did, as if he owned the place.

Which he did. But now Lore and Sin were part owners too, which was so cool. Who would have thought they could escape their tortured pasts to find not only mates and a big family, but also respect and seats in the front row of pretty much every major crisis to strike the planet?

Seriouslycool.

“Hey, guys,” E said. “I’m glad you’re both here. I’m hoping you’ve got some new information.”

Lore cleared his throat. “We know what explosive was used and why it didn’t set off the alarms. I don’t know who the bomb-bearer was yet, but Sin has a theory.”

Sin nodded. “I was just heading up to the recovery ward to talk to Tavin about it.”

“I discharged him last night.” Eidolon glanced at his watch. “Deja should be there shortly with his injection.”

Sin and Lore exchanged looks. “Shit,” she breathed.

Eidolon went taut, his gaze darting between them. “What is it?”

Mind spinning with all kinds of scenarios that ended badly for Tavin, Sin met her brother’s dark gaze. “We think he might be the target.”

Cursing, Eidolon fetched his phone and dialed. In the cold stillness, the tinny sound of endless ringing on the other end of the line filled her with dread.

When the voicemail chick started talking, Eidolon hung up. “He might be sleeping. Or showering.”

Or dead.

Eidolon started scrolling on his phone. “I’ll try Deja.”

“You do that.” Sin headed for the door. “I’ll go check on Tavin. Whoever gets ahold of him first…”

Eidolon acknowledged their agreement, and she waved to her brother.

Then she squeak, squeak, motherfucking squeaked down the hall.