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About ten blocks away fro the blade of his scythe off with a chamois cloth that was soft as a lamb&039;s ear

Across the alley, Throe was on his phone, talking in a low voice He had been thus e&039;er since the third of the three lessers they&039;d found in this quadrant of the city had been discharged back to the Oa

Xcor was not interested in any delay, cellular or otherwise The rest of his Band of Bastards were elsewhere don, seeking out either or both of their two eneed thusly

But biological needs must Goddamn it

Throe ended his call and looked over, his handso"

"How kind of her" Xcor sheathed his scythe and put his cleaning cloth away "I am, however, less interested in her acquiescence than in the issue of whether she is able"

"She is"

"And hoe know this?"

Throe cleared his throat and glanced away "I went to her last night and availed myself"

Xcor smiled coldly So that explained his soldier&039;s absence - and the reason for the departure was a relief He had feared that the other male had

"And how ever was she"

"She was viable"

"Did you saentlelymera, but was now useful, cleared his throat "I, ahyes"

"And hoere they" When there was no answer, Xcor tracked through the black-stained snow, closing in on his second in co?"

The rew deeper on his perfectly handsome face "She was adequate"

"How many times did you have her?"

"Several"

"And in varying positions, I hope?" When there was only a stiff nod, Xcor relented "Well, you have then faithfully discharged your duty to your fellow soldiers I&039;m quite certain that the others shall want to partake of both vein and sex as well"

In the aard beat of silence that followed, Xcor would never have admitted it to anyone, but he&039;d pressed for details not to deliberately goad his subordinatebut because he was glad Throe had lain with the female He wanted distance between the male and what had happened back in the fall He wanted calendars full of years, and countless females, and rivers of other females&039; blood

"There is but one stipulation," Throe said

Xcor thinned his mouth As the female in question had not seen him yet, it couldn&039;t be more cash - besides, he did not need to feed as of now Thanks to"And that is"

"It ht tomorrow"

"Ah" Xcor smiled coldly "&039;Tis a trap then"

"The Brotherhood does not knoho made the inquiry"

"You identified six males, did you not"

"I used not our nalanced around the alley, his senses reaching out, searching for lesser or Brother "I do not underesti&039;s reach Nor should you"

Indeed, his own aainst a foe of worth The assassination attempt on Wrath&039;s life back in the autumn had been his open declaration of war, and as expected, there had been a predictable fallout: The Brotherhood had found his Band of Bastards&039; lair, infiltrated it, and left with the rifle pack that contained the weapon that had been used to put a bullet into the Blind King&039;s throat

Undoubtedly, they were going for proof

The question was, of what? He did not know as of yet whether the king lived or had died, and neither did the Council, frolymera knew not that the attempt had even occurred

Had Wrath survived? Or had he been killed and the Brotherhood was at theto fill the vacancy? The Old Laas very clear about the rules of succession - provided the king had offspring, which he did not So it would be his next nearest kin - assu there were any

Xcor wanted to know, but he made no inquiries All he could do ait until word presented itself - and in thelessers, and he continued to shore up his power base within the gly well Every night, they stabbed slayers back to the Oa And his limp-wristed contact on the Council, the not-particularly-venerable Elan, son of Larex, was proving quite naive and malleable - two characteristics very useful in a disposable tool

Xcor was, however, growing tired of the information void And indeed, this business with that feer A fe her veins and her sex to multiple users was certainly able to trade inforh Throe had kept their identities quiet, the nuiven The Brotherhood uessed that none of the Band of Bastards were mated, and that sooner or later, in this new land, they would require what they had had a sufficiency of in the Old Country

Mayhap this feuard

Well, they would find out on the morrow Ambushes were easily set, and there was nary a ry s of a feht, but their faces were drawn, their eyes sunken, their skin stretched too tightly across their cheeks Huh strength, and his bastards had been living off of it for too long Back in the Old Country, there had been enough females to be of service when needs must But e&039;er since they had come to the New World, they had had toto fight the Brothers Then again, he had been properly serviced -

Dearest Virgin Scribe, he could not think of that

Xcor cleared his throat as pain in his chest made it hard to s "Tell the female, first darkness is too early We shall cos as soon as the night falls If the Brothers are there, we shall engage with theth"

Throe&039;s eyebrows rose as if he were i "Aye I shall do just that"

Xcor nodded and looked away

In the silence, the events of the autuid December air even further

That sacred Chosen was alith the fast upon us," Throe said in his perfect accent "It is tilanced over to the east The predawn glow had yet to arrive, but his second in coht of the sun would rain down, and no matter that it was at its weakest, with the winter solstice so recently passed

"Call the soldiers off the field," Xcor said "And meet them at base"

Throe typed in soe that Xcor would not have been able to read And then the soldier put his phone aith a frown