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"OH My God That dress is a train wreck"

Corhed and looked up at Bella and Zsadist&039;s television Project Runas a fascinating "show," as it turned out "What is that hanging down off the back?"

Bella shook her head "Bad taste h"

The two of the back against the headboard The house-hold &039;s black cat was between the, and Boo didn&039;t seearded the TV with distaste

Cormia shifted her hand from the cat&039;s back to his flank "The color is kind of nice"

"That doesn&039;t make up for the fact that it&039;s like shrink-wrap for a boat And has a grappling rope tacked on the butt"

"I don&039;t even knohat a boat is Much less shrink-wrap"

Bella pointed at the flat screen across the roo that looks like a floating car under that nightht that her tiely disorienting She liked Bella She honestly did The fehtful, as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside

No wonder the Primale adored her And as much as Cormia had wanted to stake a claim on him around Bella, she found there was no need to exert her First Mate status The Primale didn&039;t come up as a topic of conversation, and there were no undertones to buainst

What she had perceived as a rival had turned out to be a friend

Cormia went back to as on her lap The floppy booklet was big and thin, with glossy pages and lots of what Bella had told her were ads Vogue, it said on the front "Look at all these different kinds of clothes," she "

"I&039;m almost done with Harper&039;s Bazaar, if you want it¡ª"

The door burst open with such force that Cor into the corner like a startled bird The Brother Zsadist was in the doorway, fresh froiven the stench of baby powder he carried and all the weapons on hi on?" he demanded

"Well," Bella said slowly, "you&039;ve just scared the holy hell out of Corners, and I&039;ain, so I&039;m about to call Fritz and ask for an omelet Bacon and cheddar cheese With hash browns And juice"

The Brother looked around as if he were expecting to see lessers behind the drapes "Phury said you weren&039;t feeling well"

"I was tired He helped me up the stairs Cormia started here as a babysitter, but now I think she&039;s staying because she&039;s kind of enjoying herself, aren&039;t you? Or at least she was, right?"

Cormia nodded, but didn&039;t take her eyes off the Brother With his scarred face and his huge body, he&039;d always ly in any way, but because he appeared so fierce

Zsadist looked over at her, and the oddest thing happened He spoke in a shockingly kind voice and raised his hand as if to calm her

"Easy, now I&039;radually turned yellow and his face softened "I&039; to hurt you"

Cormia felt the tension in her release and found herself understanding better why Bella ith hirace Of course you are worried for her"

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, looking at her hellren&039;s black-stained clothes "Is everyone in the family okay?"

"The Brothers are all fine" He went over to his shellan and touched her face with a hand that shook "I want Doc Jane to have a look at you"

"If that would make you feel better, by allwrong, but I want to do whatever makes you feel ain?" Bella didn&039;t answer "I&039;ll go get her¡ª"

"It&039;s notdifferent froood idea, except I doubt there&039;s anything to be done" Bella turned her lips to his palm and kissed hiht?"

Zsadist just shook his head, and Bella closed her eyes, as if she were used to getting bad news as if she had gotten it so often that words about the exact situations were no longer needed Speech could add nothing to her sadness or his Nor could it relieve what they clearly felt

Zsadist dipped his head and kissed his mate As their eyes met, the love between them was so intense, it created an aura of warmth Cor

Bella had never shown this kind of connection with the Primale Ever

Nor, for that h perhaps that was just out of discretion

Zsadist said a few quiet words, then left as if he were on the prowl, bron, heavy shoulders set like beams for a house

Coret Fritz for you? Or put your order in for a repast?"

"I think I&039;d better wait, if Doc Jane&039;s going to examine me" The female&039;s hand crept up onto her belly and moved in slow circles "Would you like to come back and watch the rest of the shoith me later?"

"If you&039;d like¡ª"

"Absolutely You&039;re very good company"

"I am?"

Bella&039;s eyes were impossibly kind "Very You make me feel calm"

"Then I shall be your birth conant sister always has a birth companion"

"Thank youthank you very much" Bella turned away as fear speared into her eyes "I&039;ll take any help I can get"

"If I may," Cormia murmured, "orries you most?"

"Hi back "Then I worry about e I don&039;t worry about me all that much"

"You are very brave"

"Oh, you don&039;t see me in the middle of the day in the dark I fall apart plenty, trust me"

"I still think you are brave" Cormia put her hand on her flat stoeous"

Bella s about that I&039;ve watched you these past th in you"

Cormia wasn&039;t so sure about that "I do hope the exaoes well, and I&039;ll come back later¡ª"

"You don&039;t honestly think it&039;s easy to be what you are, do you? To live under the kind of pressures the Chosen have to? I can&039;t iine how you deal with it, and I have tremendous respect for you"

All Cormia could do was blink "You do?"

Bella nodded "Yeah, I do And you want to know so else? Phury&039;s lucky to have you I&039;ures that out sooner rather than later"

Dearest Virgin Scribe, that was not so Cormia had ever expected to hear from anyone, much less Bella, and her shock hed

"Okay, I&039;ve made you feel weird, and I&039;m sorry But I&039;ve wanted to say that to the both of you for the longest time" Bella&039;s eyes shifted over to the bathroouess you&039;d better go so I can get ready for Doc Jane and her poking Love that feloves of hers"

Corood-bye of sorts and left for her own bedrooht

When she turned the corner next to Wrath&039;s study, she stopped As if she&039;d sureat stairwell, loo to her

He ht "She&039;s feeling better, but I think she&039;s hiding soone for Doc Jane"

"Good I&039; over her"

"It was my pleasure She&039;s lovely"

The Primale nodded; then his eyes traced over her froh on her head, to her bare feet It was as if he were reacquainting hies

"What ugliness have you witnessed since you left?" she whispered

"Why do you ask?"

"You stare at me as if it has been weeks since you saw me What have you seen?"

"You read me well"

"About as well as you avoid my question"

He smiled "Which would be very well, huh"

"You don&039;t have to speak of¡ª"

"I saw more death Avoidable death Such a damn waste This war is evil"

"Yes Yes, it is" She wanted to take his hand Instead, she said, "Would you jointhe roses for a bit before the sun comes"

He hesitated, then shook his head "I can&039;t I&039;m sorry"

"Of course" She bowed to avoid his eyes "Your grace"

"Be careful"

"I will" She gathered her robing and walked quickly to the stairs he had just mounted

"Cormia"

"Yes?"

As she looked over her shoulder, his eyes bored into hers They burned in a way that took her back to the two of them on the floor in his bedroom, and her heart leaped to her throat

Except then heJust stay safe"

As Cormia went down the stairs, Phury headed for the hall of statues and the first of the s that looked out over the back garden

Going with her to see the roses was so not an option He was raw right now, stripped of his skin, though he still wore his suit of flesh Every time he closed his eyes, he saw those bodies in the clinic&039;s corridor and the scared faces in that medicine closet and the bravery of those who shouldn&039;t have had to fight for their lives

If he hadn&039;t stopped to help Bella up the stairs and then gone to find Zsadist, maybe those civilians wouldn&039;t have been saved Sure as hell, no one would have called him as backup, because he wasn&039;t a Brother anyed on the terrace, her white robe glowing against the dark gray stone pavers She drifted over to the roses and bent at the waist to bring her nose to the blooh of contentistered

His thoughts shifted froliness of war to the beauty of the female form

And to what males did with fe no on being around Cor he&039;d seen tonight with so alive and warm and all about the body, not the head As he watched his First Mate lavish her attentions on the rosebushes, he wanted her naked and writhing and slick with sweat underneath him

Ah but she wasn&039;t his First Mate any longer, was she

Shit

The wizard&039;s voice drifted through his head Could you honestly have done right by her, though? Made her happy? Kept her safe? You spend a good twelve hours a day sht up blunt after blunt in front of her and have her watch you wilt into your pillows and nod off? You want her to see that?

Do you want her dragging you back into the house at dawn, like you did for your father?

Would you hit her in frustration someday, too?

"No!" he said out loud

Oh, really? Your father said that to you Didn&039;t he, ht to your face that he&039;d never hit you again

Proble more

Phury rubbed his eyes and turned away froive himself a purpose, any purpose, he headed for Wrath&039;s study Even though he wasn&039;t awould want to knohat had happened at the clinic With Z busy with Jane and Bella, and the other Brothers helping out at the new clinic, he ht as well make an unofficial report Besides, he wanted Wrath to know the reason why he&039;d gone over there in the first place, and reassure the king that he wasn&039;t disregarding his pink slip

And then there was the whole Lash issue

The kid was

The tally of heads at the new clinic and the count of the bodies at the old one had revealed only one abduction, and Lash was it The medical staff indicated he was alive at the ti been resuscitated after his vitals crashed Which was tragic The kid ht have been a bastard, but no one wanted him to fall into the hands of the lessers If he was lucky, he&039;d died on the way to wherever they were taking hiiven the shape he&039;d been in

Phury knocked on Wrath&039;s study "My lord? My lord, you in?"

When there was no answer, he tried again

He didn&039;t get any response, so he turned away and headed for his rooht up and sain in the wizard&039;s bleak kingdom

As if you could be anywhere else, the dark voice in his head drawled

Across town, at Blaylock&039;s parents&039; house, Qhuinn was sneaked in through the back service entrance the doggen used He did his best to li, but Blay had to carry him up the servants&039; staircase

After Blay left his rooo lie about where he&039;d been and what he&039;d been doing, John took up sentry duty while Qhuinn settled on his buddy&039;s bed with none of his usual relief And not just because he felt like a punching bag

Blay&039;s folks deserved better than this They&039;d been good to Qhuinn all along Hell, a lot of parents wouldn&039;t let their kids near hio And now they were inadvertently jeopardizing their station in the glyitive