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The Chosen Layla had existed in her own body without any physical compromise for the entirety of her existence Born in the Scribe Virgin&039;s Sanctuary, and trained in the rarefied, preternatural peacefulness there, she had never known hunger, or fever, or pain of any note Not heat nor cold, nor contusion, concussion, or contraction Her body had been, as with all things in the mother of the race&039;s most sacred space, always the placid sahest level -

"Oh, God," she gulped as she shot out of bed and lurched into the bathroom

Her bare feet skidded on the marble as she threw herself to her knees, popped the toilet seat, and leaned over to go face-to-face with the bowl&039;s epiglottal hole

"Justdo it" she gasped as the rolling nausea polluted her body until even her toes curled under and grabbed at the floor "Pleasefor the Scribe Virgin&039;s sake"

If she could just empty the contents of her sto her fore- and ers into her throat, she shoved them in so hard she choked But that was the extent of it There was no coordination of her diaphragreasy spoiled meat in her sto else - forhow long had it been? Days

Mayhap that was the proble her arm around her hips, she put her sweaty forehead on the hard, cool lip of the toilet and tried to breathe shallowly - because the sensation of airup and down the back of her throat e to throorse

Mere days ago, when she had been in her needing, her body had taken control, the urge to ht and emotion That supremacy had quickly passed, however, and likewise had the aches and pains froain resu their backseat to her brain

The balance was tipping back onceup, she carefully repositioned herself, placing her shoulders against the blessedly chillyhow sickly she felt, her only extrapolation was that she was losing the pregnancy She&039;d never seen anyone in the Sanctuary go through this - was this illness as nor her eyes, she wished she could talk to someone about it all But very fe her condition - and for the tis that way: Most were co or been serviced Autumn&039;s fertile period had hit first, and in response, the Brotherhood had scattered far and wide as there was no taking chances with exposure to those horood reason, as she had learned firsthand By the time people had returned to their normal rooms in the mansion? Her own had passed, and any residual hormonal fluxes in the air had been chalked up by all and sundry to Autu time

The privacy in these two roonancy continued, however For one, her status would be sensed by the others, especially

And two, after a while, she would begin to show

Except if she felt this bad, how ever could the young survive?

As a vague sensation of tightness settled into her lower belly, like her pelvis was being compressed by an invisible vise, she tried to train herother than her physical sensations

Eyes the color of the night sky ca eyes, eyes that stared up from a face that was bloodied and distortedand beautiful even in its ugliness

Okay This was not an improvement

Xcor, leader of the Band of Bastards A traitor against the king, a hunted male as enemy to the Brotherhood and lawful vampires everywhere The fierce warrior who had been born of a noble e, and an unknown father who had never claie An unwanted burden shuffled froe until he&039;d entered the Bloodletter&039;s training cahter trained therein to great effect; then, in his maturity, a hters first aligned to the Bloodletter himself, and thereafter, to Xcor - and no one else

The information trail at the Sanctuary&039;s library ended there because none of the Chosen were updating anything anymore The rest, however, she could fill in herself: The Brotherhood believed the attempt on Wrath&039;s life back in the fall had been made by Xcor, and she had further heard there were insurrectionists within the glyhter

Xcor A traitorous, brutal male with no conscience, no loyalty, no principle save to serve himself

Yet when she had looked into his eyes, when she had been in his presence, when she had unknowingly fed this new enemyshe had felt like a full female for the first time in her life

Because he had looked upon her not with aggression, but with -

"Arrest that," she said aloud "Stop that right now"

As if she were a young getting into a cupboard or so herself to her feet, she drew her robe around her and resolved to leave her rooe of scenery was needed, and so was food - if only to give her churning sto to expel

On her way out, she did not check her hair or her face in the mirror Did not fuss over the way her robe fell Didn&039;t waste even awhich of her identical sandals to wear

So much time she had wasted in the past over the minute details of her appearance

She would have beenherself for a vocation But that had not been permitted within the allowed prescription of activity for a Chosen

As she stepped into the corridor, she took a deep breath, steadied herself, and started to walk in the direction of the king&039;s study -

Up ahead, Blaylock, son of Rocke, burst out into the hall of statues, his bron tight, his body clad in leather from the tops of his shoulders to the soles of his tre his weapons one by one, taking the them in

Layla stopped dead

And when the rowing remote

Deep red of hair, and lovely sapphire blue of eye, the fully blooded aristocrat was a fighter for the Brotherhood, but he was not a brute No hts out in the field, he reentle

So it was not a surprise that even in his rush, he bent slightly at the waist in forrand staircase

In his descent down to the foyer, Qhuinn&039;s voice came to her

I&039;m in love with someone

Layla exercised her new habit of cursing under her breath Such a sad state of affairs between those two fighters, and this pregnancy was not of aid

But the die had been cast

And they were all going to live with the consequences

As Blay hit the staircase, he felt like he was being chased, and that was nuts Nobody as any threat was behind him There was no masher in a Jason mask, or sick bastard in a bad Christers, or killer clown

Just a probably-pregnant Chosen who happened to have spent a good twelve hours fucking his former best friend

No prob

At least, there shouldn&039;t have been any problem The trouble was, every tiut Which was another case of crazy She had done nothing wrong Neither had Qhuinn

Although, God, if she was pregnant

Blay booted all those happy thoughts to the background as he crossed through the foyer at a jog No time to psycho-babble, even if it was just to hiht off and told you to be out front in your gear in fivewell

No details had been given during the phone call; none had been asked for Blay had taken only a moment to text Saxton, and then he&039;d thrown on the leather and the steel, ready for anything

In a way, this was good Spending the night reading in his rooh he didn&039;t want anyone in trouble, at least this pulled hih the vestibule, he -

Came face-to-face with the Brotherhood&039;s flatbed truck

The thing was kitted out to look authentically huos and theFake telephone nuline of: "We&039;re Always There for You"

Bullshit Unless, of course, the "you" was one of the Brotherhood

Blay hopped up into the passenger seat and found Tohr, not V, behind the wheel "Is Vishous co?"

"It&039;s you andof that bullet"

The Brother hit the gas, the diesel engine roaring like a beast, the headlights swinging in a fat circle around the courtyard&039;s fountain and across the lineup of cars parked wheelbase-to-wheelbase

Just as Blay checked out the vehicles and did the , Tohr said, "It&039;s Qhuinn and John"

Blay&039;s lids dropped shut for a split second "What happened"

"I don&039;t know ency assist" The Brother looked over "And you and I are the only ones free"

Blay reached for the door handle, ready to pop the thing and dematerialize the fuck out of there "Where are they - "

"Calm down, son You know the rules None of us can be out alone, so I need your ass in that seat or I&039;oddamn protocol"

Blay slah that the sting in his hand cleared his head a little Fucking Band of Bastards, cra them all - and the fact that the rule made sense just pissed hiressive, and completely without morals - not exactly the kind of enemy you wanted to meet up with all by your little lonesorabbed his phone, intending to text John - but he stopped because he didn&039;t want the guys distracted by his trying to get details "Is there anyone who can get to the&039;s heavy don and nobody can break out of it"

"Goddamn it"

"I&039;ll drive as fast as I can, son"

Blay nodded, just so he didn&039;t come across as rude "Where are they and how far?"

"Fifteen to twenty minutes And out past the &039;burbs"

Shit

Staring out theand watching the snow streak by, he told hiodsakes, the guy had asked for a tow truck, not an ambulance For all he knew, they had a flat tire or a broken windshield, and getting hysterical was not going to shorten the distance, decrease the drae the outco an ass," Blay hway

"You do not need to apologize for being worried about your boys"

Man, Tohr was cool like that

As it was late, late at night, the Northway didn&039;t have any cars, just a se like bats out of hell The tow truck didn&039;t stay on the four-laner for long About eight ot off at an exit well north of don Caldwell, in a suburban area that was known for mansions, not ranches, Mercedes, not Mazdas

"What the hell are they doing out here?" Blay asked

"Researching those reports"

"About lessers?"