Demon Huntress

Dressed in low-slung jeans and a Jimmy Buffet T-shirt, yuan bared his fangs and stalked into the break room, and Ming jie knew his anger had nothing to do with feeling left out of a staff meeting.

"You aren't going to torture the berus Hunter." yuan grabbed a Styrofoam cup and reached for the coffee pot.

"For once, I'm with my brother," Ming jie said. "We don't need to torture her for information. We can turn her loose, watch her."

More than watch. Touch, take, taste. The thought blasted through his brain, along with images of Shu lan's na**d body sliding against his. He'd move inside her, deep, hard, and she'd find her release if he had to spend hours getting her there.

His failure with her ate at him, ripped into his most basic instincts and told him to try again, to take her over and over until there was no doubt that the other day was a fluke.

Gods, he was losing it.

"So that's your idea? Spy on her?" Dr. cang jie rolled his eyes, black marbles spinning in their sockets. "Yawn."

"That'll take too long," Fen said. "cang jie has these thorny flails . . ." She shivered, and Ming jie caught the scent of l.u.s.t, which made his own ramp up a notch. "Let's just say that fragile human skin won't stand up to them."

yuan hurled his fresh cup of coffee into the sink, splattering it on the walls and counters. "You two can beat yourselves into pulps all you want, but you are not torturing the woman. Kill her outright or let her go, but no burning of limbs or peeling of skin or hanging from hooks. We clear?"

cang jie bounded to his feet, nearly knocking Fen's glass out of her hand. "Who made you chief of staff? You need to shut the f**k up and go back to being a gofer."

The writing on the walls began to shimmer and pulse. Had it not been for the Haven spell, the room would have erupted in fists and claws. Instead, yuan collected himself, his hands clenching reflexively even as he smiled. "Ming jie, did you tell them she's half-demon?"

"She's what?"

"A half-breed," yuan drawled. "You know, one parent is human, the other is demon? D.i.c.khead."

Cang jie shot Ming jie a confused glance. "berus hunters are human."

"That's what we've always assumed. But I don't think she knows." Yesterday, Ming jie had intended to tell her, before her revelation about her mother being killed by a demon. At that point, mentioning that her father might have been a demon as well didn't seem prudent. "She'll know soon enough. The demon DNA is taking over. She'll need our help to survive. We can wait until she comes to us. Take her while she's weak and bring her over to our side. Having a spy inside The berus would be invaluable."

cang jie considered that for a moment, then shook his head. "Our people are dying, being cut up by some barbaric butcher. The Berus is involved. We can't wait." His eyes glazed, his thin lips stretched into a toothy grin, and Ming jie once again caught the odor of l.u.s.t, this time musky and bitter. "The Hunter will look good in chains. Helpless. Bleeding . . ."

Yuan's irises went gold again, and Ming jie alone knew why. Nearly eighty years ago, Yuan had been tortured nearly to death, a fate their sire hadn't escaped.

Their father, by all reports half-insane, had been made to pay for his obsession with Yuan's mother, for impregnating her during her transition from human to vampire and holding her captive until she gave birth.

Yuan had paid for their father's transgressions as well, and some would say that in comparison, their father had gotten off easy. Ming jie and Chen knew their father had gotten off easy. They'd been the ones to put yuan back together, literally, after finding him strung up by vampires in a Chicago warehouse they'd been led to by Yuan's distress, which Chen, Hong, and Ming jie had felt like a homing beacon.

If only they'd found him sooner. But Chen, Ming jie, and Hong had found each other years earlier, had been content to wait for Yuan to come to them if he wanted to. Had Ming jie known the reason Yuan hadn't come to linzhou was that his own mother had held him prisoner until he broke out of his cage at twenty, Ming jie would have gone to him. Instead, Yuan had gone on the run until the vampires caught up with him in Shanghai, and by then, it was too late.

Before the threats began, Ming jie dragged his brother into the hall.

"Ming, don't let them take her."

"I won't."

"Let me put her down. I'll do it now."

"No," he snapped, and then, aware that his brother was offering mercy, not getting off on killing, Ming jie took a calming breath. "I meant what I said. We can use her."

Yuan brushed his shoulder-length hair back from his face with a sharp, impatient shove. "Bro, in case you hadn't noticed, everyone in this hospital is ready to either string her up or slit her throat, so whatever you do, it had better happen fast."