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The soft brush of lips against his cheek "Pain I can take"

He didn’t question her, didn’t doubt her Brenna had earned his respect the day she’d come out sane from that bloody room where she’d been held "No matter what happens," he told her, "don’t let anyone else interfere"

"But - "

"No one"

"Fine, but not if it gets to the point where youhis senses to a fine laser point, he sliced the shields in half

For a ony streaked through every nerve ending, every synapse, every sense he possessed He heard Brenna scream and the protective core of hiainst a connection that shouldn’t have existed and had the satisfaction of hearing her shudder in relief A second later, the pain blanked everything from his mind

Chapter 46

Shoshanna Scottquarters after their operations had been completed Ashaya Aleine’s closest aide, the one who had implanted them in the first place, had done the retraction It had taken an hour each, the procedures corated into their neural cells

"How do you feel?"

"A slight headache and some weakness in my limbs but that’s supposed to pass" Henry answered her question in the spirit in which it had been asked Concentrating on the physical They were husband and wife for propaganda purposes only - the hus seemed to like the idea of a couple in the Council

"I’m much the sae that ere iiven the of the experimental implants’ catastrophic failure "It’s a pity the iineer the backup files on the Net"

"No" Shoshanna agreed with the other Councilors on this, shortsighted though many of their decisions were "We upload it, we chance a leak Aleine will be able to put it all back together"

"It will take et back to where she was before the sabotage" Henry shifted "It’s disconcerting to have to return to this ineffectualthe past twoas a flawless psychic unit, sharing every thought However, they hadn’t quite become one mind - Shoshanna are that she’d wielded more power in the unit It proved the theory that there ht below thee into Henry’s and Shoshanna’s minds but the reverse hadn’t held true "We’ll return to it one day What’s the status of the reitated"

Shoshanna stood "Take care of it"

"I already have" Henry mirrored her stance Their minds were still attuned on a level beyond the norm, but without the iave a final order prior to the removal of my implant They’ll end their own lives one after the other during the next eight hours"

"Excellent" What it was to truly wield the power of life and death - the others knew nothing of this If they had, they would’ve pushed Protocol I faster instead of insisting on the current snail’s pace "That ties things up nicely" Now they had to ensure the Council didn’t backpedal froo ahead Shoshanna intended to become a queen in truth, to hold lives in the pal crazy trapped inside of her "Baby, please" Judd’s head re in her lap as she stroked his hair off his forehead over and over It had been three hours since he’d gone down, taking her share of the pain as well as his own The only thing keeping her froe that he was alive She knew it in her soul They were bonded whether anyone could see it or not

Full dark had fallen long ago, along with the teun to turn blue threein her wanted to run for help, but he had made her promise not to let anyone else interfere Her hand clenched on her phone as she ran her eyes over his body His chest moved up and down His breath came out But he was so cold, so scarily cold Colder than the snow

This wasn’t right He was Pack What he’d done so many times for the others should be his due now To lean on Pack was no shame Except that she kneas too proud, too used to standing alone But she couldn’t watch hi" She flipped open the phoneand found it dead

Throwing it aside, she began a frantic search of Judd Nothing But she knew he always carried a phone Heron his jacket in the clearing It had to have fallen out then "No"

A movement in the forest Her heart leaped in her throat, followed by predatory cales of her skin as her eyes focused on the source of the sound, every instinct pried was alold that acted like ca from her offensive stance, she returned her attention to Judd as Hawke shifted to human form and canal for attention"

She shook her head and met his eyes "He’s exactly like you"