The crash sent the bowl of soup flying from Irene's hands. It shattered on the floor.

"Who are you?!" Irene shrieked, stumbling to her feet, staring at me in terror.

Vivian burrowed under his blankets like a frightened child.

I didn't spare him a glance. I grabbed the doctor by the collar with one hand, lifted him clean off the ground, and slammed him into the wall.

"Who gave you the guts to touch his marrow?"

The doctor shook so hard his teeth chattered. He jabbed a trembling finger at Irene. "It was... it was Mrs. Harding's orders! I was just doing what I was paid to do!"

I drove my knee up into his stomach.

He screamed, crumpled to his knees, and retched bile onto the floor.

Bruno and Harry stormed in with the rest of the crew and locked down the surgical suite in seconds.

I rushed to the operating table and fumbled with the restraints around Thomas's wrists.

Deep purple welts ringed both wrists where the straps had bitten in.

His skin was ice under my fingers. Not a trace of warmth. Not a trace of life.

"Thomas! Thomas, wake up!" I slapped his cheek, and my voice wouldn't stop shaking.

His eyelids fluttered open. His pupils were unfocused, drifting.

When he recognized me, his cracked lips pulled into a thin, bitter ghost of a smile.

"Reggie... you came..."

"Mortals... they're truly terrifying..."

Tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them.

I was the Thunder Lord, for heaven's sake. A hot-tempered god with a reputation across all Nine Heavens. And I'd let my sworn brother suffer like this in the mortal world.

"Don't be scared. I'm taking you home."

I eased the tubes from his back as gently as I could, then pressed a wad of sterile gauze hard against the wound.

I'd barely gotten him upright when a stampede of footsteps erupted outside the door.

"Nobody move!"

Quinton Harding, the eldest son of the Harding family, stood in the doorway flanked by a wall of armed bodyguards.

He wore a tailored suit, and behind those gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes radiated the cold arrogance of a man who'd never been told no.

The moment he saw me propping Thomas up, his brow knotted into a vicious scowl.

"Reginald Dunn? A thug from some two-bit gang dares break into my family's estate?"

"Do you have any idea what you've done? One phone call. That's all it takes to wipe every last one of your crew off the map."

I let out a cold laugh and passed Thomas to Bruno behind me.