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"Vacation time. Can you say R&R, my brother?"
"Are you out of your mind? You realize we're down to four of us now with Tohr being gone, true? You can't afford to - "
"Lose you. Yeah, I know. And so you're not going to get killed because of whatever's going on in that head of yours. Or not going on, as is the case."
"Look, we're all on edge, what with - "
"Butch came by a little while ago. Told me about your repeating nightmare."
"That cocksucker." Man, he was going to pound his roommate into the ground like a stake for blabbing.
"He was right to tell me. You should have told me."
V went over to his bureau, where his rolling papers and his tobacco were. He spun one up fast, needing something in his mouth. It was either plug himself up or keep swearing.
"You need to get checked out, V."
"By who? Havers? No CAT scan or lab workup is going to tell me what's wrong, because it's not physical. Look, I'll get it together." He glanced over his shoulder and exhaled. "I'm the smart one, remember? I'll figure this out."
Wrath lowered his wraparounds, his pale green eyes burning like neon penlights. "You've got a week to fix this, or I'm going to the Scribe Virgin about you. Now get your ass dressed. I need to talk to you about something else involving the cop."
As the king took off for the living room, V drew hard on his cigarette and then looked around for his ashtray. Goddamn it, he'd left the thing out front.
He was about to head to the living room when he looked at his hand. Bringing the gloved nightmare up to his mouth, he peeled the leather off with his teeth and stared at his radiant curse.
Shit. The illumination was getting brighter and brighter every day.
Holding his breath, he pressed the lit cigarette into his palm. As the flaming end met his skin, the white glow beneath flared even stronger, backlighting the tattooed warnings until they appeared to be in 3-D.
The hand-rolled was consumed in a burst of light, the sting tingling his nerve endings. When only dust remained, he blew it off into the air, watching the little cloud rush forward and disintegrate into nothing.
Marissa took a tour through the vacant house and ended up back in the living room, where she'd started. The place was much bigger than she'd thought, especially given the six underground bedroom suites. God, she'd taken the lease because it had seemed so much smaller than her brother's - than Havers's - but size was so relative. This Colonial felt huge. And very empty.
As she pictured herself moving in, she realized that she'd never actually been in a house alone before. Back home, there had always been servants and Havers and patients and medical staff. And the Brotherhood's mansion was likewise full of people.
"Marissa?" Rhage's heavy boots came up behind her. "Time to go."
"I haven't measured the rooms yet."
"Have Fritz come back and do it."
She shook her head. "This is my house. I want to."
"Then there's always tomorrow night. But we have to get going now."
She took a last look around, then headed for the door. "Okay. Tomorrow."
They dematerialized back to the mansion, and as they came in through the vestibule, she could smell roast beef and hear talk drifting out of the dining room. Rhage smiled at her and started to disarm, stripping his dagger holster off his shoulders as he called out for Mary.
"Hey."
Marissa wheeled around. Butch was in the shadows of the billiards room, leaning on the pool table, a squat crystal glass in his hand. He was dressed in a fine suit and a pale blue tie... but as she stared at him, all she saw was him naked and propped up on his arms over her.
Just as heat swirled, his eyes shifted away. "You look different in pants."
"What - oh. They're Beth's."
He took a drink from his glass. "Heard you're renting a place."
"Yes, I've just come from - "
"Beth told me. So how much longer have you got here? A week? Less? Probably less, right."
"Probably. I was going to tell you, but I just rented it, and with all the other drama, I didn't have time to. I wasn't hiding it from you or anything." When he didn't reply, she said, "Butch? Are you - are we... okay?"
"Yeah." He looked down into his Scotch. "Or at least we're going to be."
"Butch... Look, about what happened - "
"You know I don't care about the fire."
"No, I mean... in your bedroom."
"The sex?"
She flushed and dropped her eyes. "I want to try it again."
When he said nothing, she glanced up.
His hazel stare was intense. "You know what I want? Just once, I want to be enough for you. Just... once."
"You are - "
He spread out his arms and glanced down at his body. "Not like this I'm not. But I'm going to make it so I can be. I'm going to take care of this problem of me."
"What are you talking about?"
"Will you let me escort you in to dinner?" As if to distract her, he came forward and offered her his arm. When she didn't take it, he said, "Trust me, Marissa."
After a long moment, she accepted his courtesy, thinking that at least he hadn't pulled away from her. Which was what she could have sworn he'd been doing just after the fire.
"Hey, Butch. Hold up, my man."
Both she and Butch looked over. Wrath was coming out of the hidden door underneath the stairs and Vishous was with him.
"Evening, Marissa," the king said. "Cop, I need you a sec."
Butch nodded. "What up?"
"Will you excuse us, Marissa?"
The expressions on the Brothers' faces were bland, their bodies relaxed. And she didn't buy the nothing special for an instant. But like she was going to hang around?
"I'll wait for you at the table," she told Butch.
She headed to the dining room, then paused and looked back. The three males were standing together, Vishous and Wrath towering over Butch as they did the talking. A surprised look hit Butch's face, his brows lifting up into his fore-head. Then he nodded and crossed his arms over his chest - like he was braced and ready to go.
Dread washed over her. Brotherhood business. She just knew it.
When Butch came to the table ten minutes later, she said, "What did Wrath and V talk to you about?"
He snapped his napkin loose of its folds and put the damask in his lap. "They want me go through Tohr's house and pull a CSI. Try and see if the guy's been back or left any clues as to where he's gone."
Oh. "That's... good."
"It's what I did for a living for many years."
"Is that all you'll be doing?"
As a plate of food was set in front of him, he finished his Scotch. "Yup. Well... the brothers are going to start patrolling rural areas, so they've asked me to work up a route for them. I'm going to go with V and do that after sundown tonight."
She nodded, telling herself it was going to be fine. As long as he wasn't fighting. As long as he didn't -
"Marissa, what's wrong?"
"I, ah, I just don't want you to get hurt. I mean, you're human and all and - "
"So today I need to do some research."
Well... if that wasn't a door getting shut on her. And if she pressed the point, she'd only make it sound like she thought he was totally weak. "Research on what?"
He picked up his fork. "What happened to me. V's already been through the Chronicles, but he said I could give it a shot, too. "
As she nodded, she realized they would not spend the day sleeping together, side by side, in his bed. Or hers.
She took a sip from her water glass and marveled at how you could sit so close to someone and still have him be totally far away from you.
Chapter Thirty
The following afternoon, John took a seat in the classroom, all impatient for things to get rolling. The schedule of classes ran on a three-days-on, one-day-off rotation, and he was ready to get back to work.
While he went through his notes on plastic explosives, the other trainees yakked it up as they came in and got settled, the horsing around business as usual... until everyone fell silent.
John glanced up. There was a man in the doorway, a man who looked a little unsteady, or maybe drunk. What the hell -
John's mouth went slack as he stared at the face and the red hair. Blaylock. It was... Blaylock, only better.
The guy looked down and awkwardly walked to the back. Actually, he shuffled more than walked, as if he couldn't really control his arms and legs all that well. After he sat down, he moved his knees around under the table until they fit, then he hunched over as if trying to make himself look smaller.
