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Jean-Pierre laughed then drew her up against him, her back to his front He wrapped his arms around her as he once more looked Peter over: his hair, his forehead, his ears, just like his own ears, his nose, just like his own nose, his chin, so very stubborn and fa his breh in his ar at a son he had never known existed, the true answer to a riddle to which he had always assigned the wrong answer

Yes, this was the true gift of life

Thorne sat in his usual spot at the Blood and Bite, at the top of the bar so he could keep an eye on his er of seltzer water and two fat ice cubes

Sam moved forward and refilled

If any of the brothers noticed he wasn’t hitting the Ketel One, no one said a word, but then they rarely did, not to hioddam leader of the Warriors of the Blood

He was the man No one questioned him No one ever questioned him Why would they? For two thousand years he’d been on duty, serving, loyal, reliable, a good warrior, a consistent leader

None of the brothers even asked hiuerite once it became known she’d been his lover for the past century He was that trusted a his men, that trusted by Endelle, so trustworthy that no one challenged hi--celibacy and all that shit

He had a full house tonight, one of the rare occasions that all seven of his warriors would be battling, whichthings out

He’d already handed out the night’s assignments: Medichi at the Superstitions with Luken, Marcus and Jean-Pierre at New River, Santiago at Awatukee, Kerrick at the White Tanks, and Zacharius don

"Where will you be, jefe?" Santiago asked He had a lovely redhead under his aro seemed to like redheads She had one hand on his chest and was petting him over and over like she meant to wear a hole in his silk shirt

Well that was thewith Endelle," he said A lie, of course "I’ll catch up with the rest of you later" Another lie

Since the wo, and the brother turned into her and gave her one helluva a deep kiss, he started drifting in the direction of the red velvet booths

Luken had already disappeared with a blond chick Zach was on the dance floor The last Thorne had seen his buried deep The Blood and Bite, situated in south Phoenix, Mortal Earth, was meant for the warriors of Second Earth, a place Endelle sanctioned for R&R for the Militia Warriors as well as the Warriors of the Blood Enthralled in order to keep the nature of their vampire world on the do But any warrior who hurt a mortal suffered major consequences, and Sas

The rest of the brothers, the ones bonded with their goddaroup, talking about other things, like how to get along with a woman who could feel you all the time, whatever the hell that meant Jean-Pierre, the latest addition to the club, did

So Thorne drank his seltzer alone, which was pretty ht now

His recent freak-out in Endelle’s office, the one that had only ended when Luken had punched his lights out, had actually aided his currenthi orking out for him

He turned to Sam and said, "I’m headed out to see Endelle"

"I will let theander at the mated brothers He felt like a piece of shit for what he was about to do, but he just didn’t have a choice He lifted his arm and dematerialized

He ended up in the foyer of his home in Sedona He whipped his warrior phone from the slit in his battle kilt and thumbed it

"Jeannie, here How may I serve?"

"Hey, Jeannie"

Silence returned then a very soft, "Please don’t do this"

"I’ out" He’d shared his plan with Jeannie He’d known the woman for centuries now and he trusted the hell out of her She had instructions to let Endelle knoas up

"Please, Thorne What will they do without you?"

"I guess they’ll have to figure it out"

"How long will you be gone?"

"You know the answer"

"Yeah, as long as it fucking takes"

For that, for her use of one of his favorite words, he actually sht back atcha, jefe"