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"So do you think you guys will ever come back to Caldwell?" Blay asked his oes in and out for work so easily every night, and we both like the quiet and the privacy here in the country Do you think it&039;s any safer in to - "

From out of nowhere, shouts penetrated the closed door of his roolanced across and frowned "Hey, Mah going on in the house - "

Her voice dropped, fear lacing her words "You&039;re not being raided, are you?"

For a o came back to hi in terror, his father taking up arainst the ene seeet off without reassuring her "No, no, no, Mahht as a tick Nobody can find us, and even if they could, they can&039;t get inside It&039;s just souments - honestly, it&039;s fine"

At least, he hoped it was Things really appeared to be ra up

"Oh, that&039;s such a relief I can&039;t have anything happening to you Go take care of things, and call et your roona"

On co And so did his eyes, a little "I love you, Mahmen - and thank you You know, for"

"Thank you for trusting , and be safe I love you"

Hanging up, he shifted off the bed and hit the door The second he was out into the hall of statues, it was clear there was a big-ti on in the main part of the house: there were a lot ofon, all of which were at a voluency" written all over it

Breaking into a jog, he beelined for the second-story balcony -

When he got a gander at the foyer, he didn&039;t i down below: There was a whole knot of people at the base of the staircase, all with their arht

Except it wasn&039;t between two Brothers

What the fuck? Were they really trying to peel Qhuinn off Saxton?

Jesus, the vicious bastard had his hands around his cousin&039;s throat and was, going by the gray pallor of the other male&039;s face, about to kill hi!" Blay screamed, as he took the stairs at a dead run

When he got to the fray, there were too many Brothers in the way - and those were not the kind of oing to get through to Qhuinn, it would be hiet the duht

Shooting across the foyer, he broke the glass of the old-fashioned manual fire alarm with his fist and then reached in and pulled the lever down

Instantly, noise exploded through the space, the acoustics of the cathedral ceiling acting like a ine-loud alar a bunch of fighting dogs with a bucket of water All the action stopped and heads popped out of the tangle, looking around

The only one who didn&039;t pay anyhard

Blay took advantage of all the hey-what-is-that and was able to push his way through

Focusing on Qhuinn, he shoved his face right into the guy&039;s grille "Let hiistered, an expression of shock replaced the cold violence that had marked Qhuinn&039;s puss - like he&039;d never expected to have Blay check in And that was all it took One simple command from him and those hands released so quick, Saxton dropped to the floor like deadweight

"Doc Jane! Manny!" someone called out "Get a ht then and there, but he was too terrified about Saxton&039;s condition to waste ti-with-yous: The laasn&039;t uy&039;s beautiful suit, Blay rolled hiertips, praying he found a heartbeat When he didn&039;t, he tilted Saxton&039;s head back and bent down to begin ad CPR

Except then Saxton let out a cough and dragged in a trunkload of air

"Manny&039;s coh he didn&039;t know that to be true But come on, someone had to be on the way "Stay withAnd the color started to come back into that handso hand, Blay pushed back the soft, thick blond hair from the forehead he had touched soup at hi and

He prayed for that kind of reaction

Hell, in that moment, he would have traded both his past and present for it

But it was sier on the ed all of those That was it, however

"Here, let me check hi down and knelt to the ive V&039;s shellan soh it wasn&039;t like he could do anything Hell, he&039;d alanted to go to medical school - but not so he could resuscitate ex-lovers because sole thelared up at Qhuinn The fighter was still being held back by Rhage, like the Brother wasn&039;t entirely sure the episode was over

"Let&039;s get you to your feet," Doc Jane said

Blay was right on that, helping Saxton up, holding hi him over to the stairs The pair of theot to the second floor, Blay took them down into his room out of habit

Shoot

"No, it&039;s fine," Saxton murmured "Just let me sit down in here for a ht about the bed, but when Sax stiffened as he headed in that direction, he settled for the chaise longue Helping the male off his feet, he aardly stepped back

In the silence that followed, violent anger hit him from out of nowhere

Now his hands shook for a different reason

"So," Saxton said hoarsely "Hoas your night?"

"What the hell happened down there?"

Saxton loosened his tie Unbuttoned his collar Took yet another deep breath "Family tiff, as it were"

"Bullshit"

Saxton shifted exhausted eyes over "Must we do this?"

"What happened - "

"I think you and he need to talk And once you do, I won&039;t have to worry about being juain"

Blay frowned "He and I have nothing to say to each other - "

"With all due respect, the ligature est otherwise"

"Hoe doin&039; there, big guy?"

As Rhage&039;s voice registered in Qhuinn&039;s ear, it was clear the Brother was checking to see if the drama ell and truly over Not necessary The instant Blay had told him to cut the crap, Qhuinn&039;s body had obeyed, sure as if the guy held the re around, looking hi to see if he showed any inclination to race up after Saxton and resue prompted

"Yeah Yeah, I&039;m okay"

The iron bars across his chest loosened and gradually dropped Then a big hand clapped hiave him a squeeze "Fritz hates dead bodies in the front hall"

"But there&039;s not a lot of blood with strangulation," somebody pointed out "Clean-up would have been easy"

"Just a floor polish afterward," another guy chimed in

There was a heavy pause at that point

"I&039;ain, Qhuinn shook his head "Not for a repeat I swear on my"

Well, he didn&039;t have a h hopefully, that last one was a "yet" kind of thing

"I just won&039;t, &039;kay?"

He didn&039;t wait for any further commentary No offense, but a plane crash and a hoh for the night

With a curse, he started for the second floor - and remembered he still needed to do a drive-by with Layla

Hanging a right at the top of the stairs, he went down to the guest room the Chosen had moved into and knocked on the door softly "Layla?"

In spite of the fact that they were going to have a young together, he didn&039;t feel co in without an invitation

Round tith the knuckles was a little louder So was his voice "Layla?"

Sheoff, he went for his own roo past Wrath&039;s office with its closed doors, and then going down the hall of statues As he went by Blay&039;s door, he couldn&039;t help but stop and stare at the da

Jesus Christ, he&039;d nearly killed Saxton

Still felt like following through

He&039;d always known his cousin was a slut - and he hated being right about that What the fuck was Sax thinking? The guy had the ultioddamn day, and yet somehow, some random in a bar or a club or the frickin&039; Caldwell Municipal Library was better than that? Or even necessary?

Faithless son of a bitch

As his hands cranked into fists and he entertained the idea of kicking his way into that room just to pound Saxton&039;s face into soup, he nearly couldn&039;t control the io, now

Froh his head once again, and sure enough, the violence was unplugged Literally, between one moment and the next, he went from wild bull to neutral

Weird

Shaking his head, he walked over to his bedroo on the lights, he just stood there, feet glued to the floor, ar on the top of his spine All about the going nowhere

For no apparent reason, he thought of one of Fritz&039;s beloved Dysons, the thing rolled into a service closet, left in the dark until somebody took it out for use

Great He&039;d been reduced to the level of a vacuum cleaner

Eventually he cursed, and ordered hi to bed The night had been a ballbuster froood neas that the sorry mess was finally over: Shutters were in place to keep out the sun House was getting quiet

Tierly took his runted at all the aches and pains, he realized he&039;d left his leather jacket and his weapons down in the clinic Whatever He had extras up here if he needed theht up before First Meal

Going for the fly of his leathers, he -

The door behind him exploded open with such force, it ricocheted off the wall - only to be caught on the rebound by the hard grip of one pissed-off motherfucker

Blay was rip-shit as he stood in the jae that even Qhuinn, who had faced off with a lot of things in his life, hoa

"What the fuck is wrong with you," the ht How could the guy not have recognized that foreign scent on his own lover?

"I think you need to put that to my cousin"

As Blay uy to -

Blay snatched a grab and bared his fangs with a hiss "Running?"

In a quiet voice, Qhuinn said, "No I&039; the damn door so no one else hears this"

"I don&039;t give a fuck!"

Qhuinn thought of Layla down at the other end of the hall, trying to sleep "Well, I do"

Qhuinn disengaged and shut theether Then before he could turn around, he had to close his eyes and take a little TO

"You disgusthis head

"You need to get the fuck out of ht into his heart "You stay the hell out of my business!"

Qhuinn looked over his shoulder "You don&039;t even care that he ith someone else?"

Blay&039;s mouth opened Closed Then those brows dropped low "What?"