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Eva had never been comfortable in hospitals. The sounds of pain and illness, the smells of disinfectant and sickness, the sights of blood and suffering. So, she didn’t expect to be comfortable in a hospital run by demons.
And boy howdy, she was right.
Underworld General was Bizarro World come to life. Of course, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse standing over there with Logan were biblical legends in the flesh so it was hard to be truly shocked. If anything, she was fascinated.
She tried to keep a low profile as she wandered around the Emergency Department, her brain working overtime to process the things she saw.
The Aegis had recorded some of Tayla’s accounts, so Eva knew the words written in blood on the gray walls were anti-violence spells. She knew there would be chains and hooks hanging from the ceiling, apparently to help lift or restrain demons. She’d even known about the cages of various sizes and shapes on wheels or tracks, just waiting to be taken to who knew where. But she hadn’t known there would be troughs running with blood in the black floor, or skulls perched on shelves, and weird paintings of demonic medical procedures mounted on the walls.
Which, truthfully, didn’t look much different from images of what the human race had done to animals and other humans in the name of experimentation, testing, and medical advancements for its entire existence.
She skirted the waiting area where a half-dozen non-humans of various species waited, most bleeding in some way, one holding his severed tentacle. Another guy bounced his eyeball in his palm. It took a second to realize that he hadn’t lost it. That was just how his eye worked.
Demons were so damn creepy.
Averting her gaze, she focused on the vending machine across the way. What was inside? Probably not Doritos and Mountain Dew.
“Eva.”
Startled, she wheeled around, realizing she was standing in the doorway to the room where Logan’s mom lay in a hospital bed, connected to medical equipment and smiling weakly.
“Mrs., ah…”
“Regan.” Her voice was raspy but strong, her eyes puffy and sad but sharp. “Come in.”
I don’t wanna.
Something inside Eva snapped, as if the last few days had finally caught up with her. There was too much to list, too much tragedy, too much truth. And now, the mother of the man Eva had fallen for, the woman who had turned The Aegis upside down and inside out and was now suffering a miscarriage, wanted to talk to her.
Eva had always been confident in any situation. She took control of situations. Situations didn’t control her. But what if all of that had been because of the demon her parents and Lukas had tethered to her? Was her confidence a result of her good luck? Now that her fortunes had reversed, so had her faith in herself.
This was all…it was too much.
She looked around wildly for an exit. If she could just catch her breath for a minute—
“Eva.” Regan’s voice jolted her out of her panic. “Are you okay?”
AmIokay? The woman was lying in a hospital bed attached to machines, and she was asking about Eva?
“I didn’t mean to intrude…I’ll just leave you alone—”
“No, please, I’d like to talk to you.”
Unable to come up with a valid excuse to avoid what was bound to be an extremely uncomfortable chat, Eva moved to Regan’s bedside.
“I’m really sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Regan laid her hand on her belly. “It wasn’t planned, but we were ready for another baby.” She gestured to the television, which ran a clip of the attack at Aegis HQ. “Must have been terrifying. It was a brave thing you did, speaking out against that doctored video.”
Eva snorted. “Brave? I was terrified. I knew I was going to lose my job and a lot of friends. Maybe my family too.”
“Bravery isn’t the absence of fear,” Regan said, clearly quoting someone. “That’s called stupidity. Bravery is about doing the right thing despite the fear.” She let out a weak laugh. “Ares is full of fun sayings like that. You’ll see.”
You’ll see.
As if there was permanence in Eva’s relationship with this family.
Warmth flowed through her like syrup. She hadn’t been sure how these people would behave around her, given her career and past, but she definitely hadn’t expected anything even close to kindness or acceptance.
