“We were too far away from the house for the spirits to grab.”

“Someone wants you really dead,” Wraith said.

“Okay, so now that you’ve saved my life and pointed out the glaringly obvious, why are you still here?”

They all exchanged glances, which couldn’t be good. Finally, Shade cleared his throat. “Con said you healed a warg.”

“Did he also tell you what happened to her?”

“Yeah,” Eidolon said. “But I’m not sure how much difference her survival would have made. The virus has mutated. It’s affecting born wargs now.”

The information drilled a hole in her more efficiently than the exomanglerhad. She exhaled shakily and tried to keep her voice above a whisper. “So what now?”

“We’re going to have to take some drastic measures. We can’t afford to waste more time looking for infected wargs, and it’s getting too dangerous for you. I got the Carceris off your back temporarily, so we’ll bring you into the hospital and find some volunteers to infect and then cure, so I can work with the killed virus.”

“Getting volunteers to be willingly infected with a fatal disease won’t be easy.” Con shifted on the mattress, causing her to roll toward him a little more. The contact comforted her, made her wish he’d stretch out beside her.

“Want me to grab a volunteer?” Wraith asked, and Sin had a feeling his “volunteer” wasn’t going to be a willing one.

Con’s mouth tightened. “I can point you toward a couple of Warg Council members I’d like to ‘volunteer.’ ”

“We’re not forcing anyone.” Sin sat up and grimaced. Someone had put her into clothes that weren’t hers. Which made sense, given that everything she owned was at the assassin den. But whose brilliant idea had it been to put her in a hideous, pink, floral T-shirt? With glitter. At least the jeans fit. “I’ve fucked over enough people with this.”

“How about Luc?” Wraith sprawled in the bedside chair, legs spread, arms splayed wide, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “He’s running on borrowed time as it is.”

Lore swung around to him. “Why’s that?”

“He made me swear to kill him when he lost his humanity. Which pretty much happened when Aegi scum killed his would-be mate.”

“Hey,” Tayla huffed. “Aegi scum present, you know.”

Wraith grinned, and Sin got the impression that those two took a lot of pleasure in needling each other. “So let’s say we get our volunteer,” she said, “cure the disease, and a truce is called in the civil war. Will the Warg Council still want my head?”

Con reached for a glass of water sitting on the bedside table, and handed it to her. “I’ll talk to them.”

“And the chances of them backing off?” Shade asked.

Con’s expression was grim. “Not good.” He stroked the back of her hand absently, but Sin noticed that her brothers’ eyes zeroed in on the action. Impossible to tell what they were thinking. Well, Wraith was clearly amused, but the others… not so much. “As soon as you find a volunteer and we confirm a cure, I’ll go to them. I have a little clout and some of the members owe me.”

Sin’s eyes stung. He was willing to use up some favors for her? All of these guys were willing to help her? Once again, emotion overwhelmed her, and she vaulted out of bed. “I need a glass of water.”

Never mind that she had one in her hand. She needed to get out of there. She was on emotional overload and short-circuiting was a danger.

She took the stairs down two at a time and darted into the kitchen, where she backed into a corner and stood there, panting, wondering what in the hell was going on with her. She didn’t know how long she’d been there when she heard someone coming down the steps. Too light for any of the guys.

Tayla.

“I’m surprised they sent you,” Sin said when Tay entered the kitchen. “I was betting on Lore or Shade.”

“I had to convince those two to stay.” Tay rolled her eyes. “Which was easier than convincing Con not to chase you.”

For some reason, that made Sin all warm and fuzzy.

“Eidolon, of course, wanted to come check your vitals. I think Wraith just wanted to make fun of you.”

Sin snorted. “And you?”

Tayla’s hand dropped to her thigh holster, where the hilt of a dagger protruded from its leather housing, and Sin instinctively tensed. But the slayer’s fingers only played with the sleek wooden handle. Still, her gaze was steady, fearless, focused like green laser beams, and the way she was studying Sin was almost adversarial.

“Wraith and I don’t agree on much,” she said slowly, “but we do have a meeting of the minds—feeble as his is—when it comes to protecting the family.”

Okay, Sin knew where this was going. “And you’re afraid I’m going to hurt my brothers. Yeah, yeah, Wraith already gave me the hurt-them-and-you’ll-be-sorry speech, so save your breath.”

Tayla’s fingers continued to caress the weapon. “Look, I know you don’t want to talk—”

“You don’t know anything,” Sin snapped.

One eyebrow arched up. “I think you’d be surprised.”

“Really? Why don’t you share.”

Tayla hopped up on the table and folded her hands in her lap as though settling in for a nice, long lecture. Great. “Okay, here’s the deal. My mom was a junkie. I was born on the floor of an abandoned warehouse, addicted to heroin. I grew up in foster homes and on the streets. I was abused. I did drugs. I stole. I was always in a lot of trouble. When I was a teenager, I watched my mom be torn apart by a demon. A Soulshredder. After that, I was even angrier. I joined The Aegis and killed every demon, vampire, and shapeshifter I could get my hands on. Eventually, I met Eidolon, discovered I had a twin sister, and learned the demon who tortured my mom was also my father. How’s that for a start?”

Christ. No wonder Tayla’s emerald eyes were those of a warrior. She might not be as old as Sin, but she’d fought just as hard to survive. Grudging respect for her sister-in-law softened Sin’s demeanor. “You have my attention.”

“Good. Because I was royally pissed off for a long time. At the world, at humans, at demons. I hated everyone and everything.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the difference between you and me,” Sin said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t hate the world.”

“No, you just hate yourself.” Before Sin could even attempt to deny that, Tay asked, “What do you think of Lore?”

Sin blinked at the rapid change of subject. “What?”

“Lore. Do you respect his feelings? Do you think he’s a bad judge of character?”

“I’ve always trusted his judgment. Why?”

“Because he loves you. So if he’s a good judge of character…”

Sin rolled her eyes. “Please. Spare me the psychobabble and pep talk. I’m not going to off myself or anything. I’m free now, and life is good.”

“Is Con part of it? Your good life?”

Butterflies flitted in Sin’s stomach. The sensation was weird, almost panic-inducing, but at the same time, it was strangely… pleasant.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tayla leveled a flat stare at Sin. “I’m neither blind nor stupid. I saw the way you freaked when he offered to do something nice for you.”

“Doesn’t matter. He doesn’t want me. Not like that.”

“How many bullshit flags do I have to throw down? You didn’t see him when he got to our apartment. He was terrified for you. I thought he was going to explode out of his skin while the boys were working on you. And just a minute ago, I saw how he looked at you. He might not want to admit it, even to himself, but there’s something there. Let him in, Sin. I know it’s hard. Giving myself to Eidolon was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. But I haven’t regretted it. Not once. Con’s a good guy, and you can also trust your brothers.”

God, this was getting so old. “I don’t need—”

“I know. You don’t need them.” Sarcasm laced Tayla’s words. “You don’t need anyone. But you know what? They need you.”