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John shuffled his little body around and closed his eyes again Wedged into the seat of a beat-up, ugly-ass, avocado green armchair, he smelled Tohr with every inhale he took: The decorator&039;s nightmare had been the Brother&039;s favorite possession and Wellsie&039;s "seatus non grata" Exiled here to his office at the training center, Tohr had spent hours doing admin work in it while John studied

John had used the thing as a bed since the killings

Aggravated, he twisted his were draped over one arm and his head and shoulders were shoved back into the top half of the chair He squeezed his eyes closed even harder and prayed for soh his veins and his head was spinning with a whole lot of nothing specific, everything urgent bullshit

God, class had ended two hours ago and he&039;d worked out even after the other trainees had left Plus he hadn&039;t slept well for a week You&039;d think he&039;d be out like a light

Then again, maybe he was still worked up over Lash That SOB had been all over hi out in front of the whole class yesterday Man, John hated that kid He really did That arrogant, rich, snarky¡ª

"Open your eyes, boy, I know you&039;re awake"

John went into a full-body jerk and nearly landed on the floor As he hauled himself back up, he saw Zsadist in the doorway to the office, dressed in that uniforht turtle-neck and loose sweats

The expression on the warrior&039;s face was as hard as his body "Listen up, because I&039;ripped the ar what this was about

"You don&039;t want to go to Havers&039;s, fine But cut the shit You&039;re skipping meals, you look like you haven&039;t slept for days, and your attitude is beginning to irritate the fuck out of me"

Yeah, this wasn&039;t like any parent/teacher conference John had ever had And he wasn&039;t taking the criticism well: Frustration swirled in his chest

Z jabbed his forefinger across the roo Lash, we clear? Leave the fucker alone And from now on, you come up to the house for meals"

John frowned, then reached for his pad so he&039;d be sure Z would understand what he wanted to say

"Forget about a response, boy I&039;ht pissed, Z ss "And you know better than to get up in rill, don&039;t you"

John looked away, certain the Brother could break him in half without any effort at all And resentful as hell about that fact

"You will quit it with Lash, you feel et involved with the two of you Neither of you will like it Nod so I know you understand"

John nodded, feeling asharession inside of him, he blew out a breath and rubbed his eyes God, he&039;d been so cal hi close to the change That&039;s the why of it"

John slowly lifted his head He&039;d heard that right, hadn&039;t he?

Aned

"Yeah That&039;s why it is imperative that you learn how to control yourself If youto cos that will floor you I&039;th The brute kind The kind that can kill You think you got proble that load You need to learn your control now"

Zsadist turned away, but then paused and looked over his shoulder Light fell on the scar that ran down his face and distorted his upper lip "One last thing Do you need soht, John thought Over his dead body he was going back to Havers to see that therapist

Which hy he refused to go get checked out Last tiuy had blackmailed him into a therapy session he hadn&039;t wanted, and he had no intention of repeating the Dr Phil hour With everything going on recently, he wasn&039;t getting into his past again, so the only way he was going back to that clinic noas if he was bleeding out

"John? You want to talk to someone?" When he shook his head, Z&039;s eyes narrowed "Fine But you get the ht?"

John looked down and nodded

"Good Now drag your ass up to the house Fritz hasto watch you eat it And you will eat all of it You need to be strong for the change"

Butch walked closer to the slayers and they weren&039;t threatened by hi, they were annoyed, like he wasn&039;t doing his job

"Behind you, duet&039;s behind you Two Brothers"

Butch circled around the lessers, reading their imprints instinctively He sensed that the tallest one had been inducted within the last year or so: There was soh Butch wasn&039;t sure how he knew this The other tere far older in the Society and he was certain of this not just because their hair and skin had paled out

He stopped when he was behind the three and stared through their big bodies at V and Rhage ere looking like they&039;d watched a good friend die in their aroing to attack and he e and V sank down into fighting stances, Butch grabbed the round