Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            David shuddered, and when his face settled, I wasn’t sure the man was still in there. “I was never yours,” he said, and I knew it was the curse that was speaking. “You feed the worst of us instead of starving it. I am what makes us worth being, and you will acknowledge that. Speak what the demon wants to know.”

            “I . . . can’t,” he gasped, and David—or maybe it was the focus now—reached out, grasping his wrist in demand.

            “Speak it,” David insisted.

            Glenn’s grip on my shoulders tightened, and I stiffened as a tickling sensation of building energy seemed to trip along my spine. “Who is the mage?” I asked, and Walter’s lip twitched, a name, perhaps, struggling to remain unsaid.

            “You already . . . know,” he choked out. He took a sudden breath, and I started at a surge in the ley lines. Walter’s body shook, his pulse pounded at his neck, and veins stood out upon his forehead. Something was happening, something other than David pushing Walter. I could sense magic gathering, but there was no one in the room but us.

            “Is anyone else feeling that?” I said, and Cassie gave me a blank look.

            Walter grasped David’s hand almost in desperation. “You can make us more powerful than even the vampires. Why do you stay with him? He is nothing. I can make you a king.”

            David pulled away, his lip curled in distaste. “The wolf does not crave dominion. The wolf craves clear nights, open fields, and the security of the pack. You are the worst of us, not the best, and I will not lend my strength to you. I will drive you out. The lone wolf will perish.”

            Walter’s expression suddenly went riven, as if God himself had told him he was shunned.

            Glenn bumped into me, intent as he inched closer. “Where is your safe house?” he asked, and Walter stiffened, eyes bright. “Where is Parker? Is the mage with her?”

            “Ah, guys?” I said, stifling a shudder as the power in the room prickled down my spine. “Hey, ah, we need to slow down,” I added, but Walter was grinning, a wild look finding him.

            He’s seeing around corners, I thought, recognizing his wish to be dead. I’d seen it before in hospital friends who had suffered more pain than any child should. He wanted out. The one thing he most coveted had spurned him. He was going to kill himself.

            “David, wait!” I exclaimed, but Walter had choked down a cough, his gaze fixed on me.

            “You want to know who the mage is?” he said. “I’ll tell you. The mage—”

            “No!” I exclaimed, surging forward to put my hands over his mouth.

            But I was too late, and with the name unsaid, Walter spasmed. Stiffening, he groaned. Behind him, the machinery pegged their readouts, and a faint alarm began to sound.

            “What did you do! He was goin’ to tell us!” Cassie exclaimed.

            “No he wasn’t. He’s trying to kill himself,” I said, backing off as three nurses burst in.

            “Out!” one of them demanded. “Crash cart! Now!” he shouted, turning to me even as he began chest compressions. “What did you do to him?”

            “It wasn’t me.” Arms over my middle, I retreated to the covered window, the trapped heat beating my shoulders. “I tried to stop him.” My attention went to Glenn, then David. The Were was slumped, hands to his face as he tried to push the focus to the bottom of his psyche. Cassie’s hand was on his arm, her touch a mix of possessive protection. “I tried to stop him,” I said again, but no one was listening. The crash cart had been wheeled in, and they were getting ready to shock his heart.

            “He’s got a no-divulge spell on him,” I said, and the lead nurse’s head rose. “I felt it gather as we questioned him. He triggered it intentionally. I didn’t do this.”

            The lead nurse went still. He gave me a quick study, assessing in an instant that I might know what I was talking about. “This isn’t going to help,” he said even as he yanked the cords from the walls. “Emergency decurse. Move him out! Let’s go, people. We’ve got three minutes!”

            Cassie rolled David clear as the three nurses suddenly became five. In a heartbeat, Walter was in the hall. “Empty that elevator!” came a loud voice, and then they were gone.