Page 57 of Blades and Bone

Hamish twisted, getting his arm around the throat and using his body as a shield should the other attacker try something.

Brodie stepped over them, swinging something. It caught the other man under the chin and sent him backwards. “You got this one?”

“Yeah.”

The guy flailed around, knife waving in the air, body arching as if he could break free. Even though Hamish was breathing hard and his heart was trying to break his ribs, he wasn’t letting go until the man went still.

The man stabbed Hamish in the arm.

“Fuck.” Heat seared through his muscle. That was going to hurt later. He grabbed the man’s hair, released his chokehold, and as the man made a move for freedom, Hamish snapped his neck.

The man’s body went limp, and Hamish let himself do the same, melting into the carpet.

Grunts from the living room made him shove away the body and get up. Brodie was still fighting. He only made it as far as the end of the hallway again, as Brodie was swinging the dildo like a mace. The silicone scrotum hit the attacker in the throat, and he dropped to his knees. Brodie followed up with an elbow to the head, knocking him out.

Brodie straightened. “Anymore?”

“Just those two, as far as I’m aware.”

“Hmm.” Brodie placed the dildo on the coffee table and surveyed the damage. There wasn’t much, but then they hadn’t come in to steal or destroy.

Hamish leaned against the wall. “This one is dead.”

“Well, that’s a problem.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is, thank you.”

Brodie turned toward him. “You’re bleeding.”

“Getting stabbed will do that.” He looked at his arm. The wound wasn’t neat because they’d been fighting, and while it was bleeding, it wasn’t enough to be of immediate concern.

“So now we have a dead body and blood to clean up.” He stalked over to the kitchen and grabbed a tea towel.

Hamish expected him to start cleaning blood off the carpet; instead, he tied it around his arm. “It’s temporary, but at least you’ll stop dripping everywhere.”

Hamish glanced at him.

Brodie placed a hand on his cheek. “I’m glad you’re not seriously hurt, but we need to work out what the fuck is going on.”

He gave the guy at Hamish’s feet a nudge with his foot. “Useless.”

“What are we going to do with yours? He still alive?”

“Question him when he wakes up.” Brodie kneeled down and opened the man’s mouth, and stuck one finger inside. “Blooded vampire.” He then checked the man’s hands for his family affiliation. “No ink. You might as well take a bite before the blood becomes useless.”

Brodie returned to the unconscious man and repeated the same assessment. “Blooded vampire. White dagger on the palm. White dagger? Are you familiar with that symbol?”

“No,” Hamish said carefully. “But the palm and white are two parts of the Orlan marking.”

“And the dagger is Ashby.”

“Yeah…don’t quote me on this, but doesn’t that indicate a takeover of the family?”

“I don’t know.”

“New branches choose new symbols, but they usually keep the same color and location.”

“Unless they are unofficial branches. I don’t know if the original line was blue or on the finger. That information was never passed down, only that she was expected to die on the voyage.” He studied the marking on the palm of the man’s hand. “This would mean that the Ashby family has been taken over by the Orlans…Vivian is still alive. Not only that, but we have a couple of female cousins.”