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The gods had truly blessed Lare his footsteps to cross paths with the Paladin Hunter and Lonzo had both offered hiift he cherished

"I know"

Kneeling down at Duke’s side, he held his hand out over the cut that was still bleeding, althoughhis eyes, he shut out the world and withdrew into the center of his ed as the ic chose to do its work on the first try

Finally, the last feords faded into the silence as Larem stood back up His friend reached out to steady hiic took its toll, especially when Larein with

He ier alone Lonzo had returned with reinforcements

"Devlin"

A faint hint of a familiar perfume told hi, he turned to face the pair "He’s all yours, Devlin Hunter can fill you in on the details"

The Paladin leader studied the body sluainst the wall "Hell, fro the bastard"

Hunter and Lonzo laughed, but Sasha didn’t look at all amused In fact, she looked ready to explode She stepped past Larem as if he weren’t even there to stand over Duke’s body

When she spotted the blood, her face turned ashen "For God’s sake, Larem, what did you do? Someone call for a medical team"

"Belay that order" Devlin squatted down to check Duke’s injuries "He’s not badly hurt Nothing an ice pack and a couple of aspirin won’t cure"

After using the hem of the man’s own shirt to wipe away so look He shrugged, not wanting to discuss his reasons for undoing souard

"Lonzo, you and Hunter drag Duke downstairs to first aid Laurel can check hiets here"

The tarriors strong-armed Duke up off the floor and wrapped his ared the unconscious guard down the hall and out of sight They weren’t being particularly careful with how they handled him, an unspoken show of support for Lareone, Larem picked up Lonzo’s sword and waited for the stor

Devlin spread his feet and crossed his aret a demonstration of his famous hot temper Fine, he could unleash his wrath on Larem if he wanted to, but he’d better watch his mouth around Sasha

"Okay, which one of you tant to explain to me what the hell happened here?"

Sasha’s ht slash as she threw back her shoulders, ready to do battle Obviously she’d thought she’d be the one de theht noant to hear what Lareuard I had already told the review, possibly fired"

This was definitely not the ti a ainst a wisp of a wo contest

Right now, Larem would put his money on Sasha, but it would be better for all concerned if he drew their attention back to hi it would help hi to resurface as he recalled the events that had led him to this point in time

"After I finished my bouts down below, I happened to look up and spotted Sasha watching from thaton the far end When she turned to look at soo from curious to worried, which led er"

She just had to contradict hiry, not scared You overreacted"

"I would dispute that, but if you say you were just angry, fine Human emotions are not always clear to us poor aliens Hunter and Lonzo acconoring how she flinched at the ree, he picked up where he’d left off "Three of the guards had her cornered and were insulting her Then Duke pushed her too far, and Sasha kneed the bastard He shoved her against the wall and was preparing to hit her e arrived"

Devlin was nodding "Sounds like you handled this about right, although I’ me"