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"Yes, absolutely you can go see hiy, but aware"

As Doc Jane sher on his hips and tucked in hishis hair down, however, forcing his ar to pull a drag-through

"And he&039;s going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded as she began to untie the surgicalaround the front of her neck "We removed the vampire equivalent of the hu We also went through hiure, he was in soa&039;s blood so him in his current state in spite of the injuries If he&039;d been left out, I&039;m very certain he would have died"

The curse that brought about a ht

"And he&039;s not contaed "He bleeds red, and no one can sense any of the Oa in him - it was just a case of on or around hilanced at the door "Good"

Tio in, he told himself Co the course of the four-hour operation, the guy had gone back and forth down the hall, taking breaks out in the parking lot for cigs He&039;d always returned, though

God, he looked grim

Had ever since V had co had that been

"I&039;ll go in now," he said

It wasn&039;t until after Blay nodded that he actually entered the OR

Pushing his way through the door, the first thing he was greeted as that antiseptic sht contusions Next was the subtle beeping by the gurney in the center of the roo at the coive you soot to her feet

"Thanks," he replied quietly

As the door shut behind her, Qhuinn retucked his shirt even though it didn&039;t need the help "Luchas?"

Waiting for his brother to respond, he glanced around The debris of the operation, the bloody gauze pads, the used instru but the still body under those white sheets, and a stuffed red biohazard bag to show for the hours that had passed

"Luchas?"

Qhuinn went over and stared down Man, he didn&039;t typically have probleander at his brother&039;s drawn face, things went for a spin, a surge of dizzinesshim realize exactly how tall he was - and how far he had to fall

Luchas&039;s eyes fluttered open

Gray They had both been gray, and still were

Qhuinn reached behind and rolled over a little stool As he sat down, he didn&039;t knohat to do with his arms, his handshis voice

He had never expected to see a ain And that had been back before the raids, when he&039;d been kicked out

"How you doing?" What a dumb-ass question that was

"He keptme"

Qhuinn leaned in close, but damn, that weak, hoarse voice didn&039;t carry far "What?"

"He kept mealive"

"Who?"

"because of you"

"Who are you talking about?" Hard to iainst -

"Lash"

At the sound of the nas That motherfucker cousin of theirs - who turned out not to be blood at all, but rather, the transplanted son of the Oa As a kid, the SOB been an obnoxious show-off As a pretrans in the training progra hell As a posttrans?

His true father had welcomed him back into the fold, and utter destruction had been the result Lash was the one who had led the raids After centuries of the Lessening Society having to hunt and peck for vampire enclaves, that bastard had known exactly where to send the slayers - and because he had been adopted into an aristocratic family, he had decimated the upper classes

But apparently Daddio and the golden boy had had a falling-out

Shit, the idea Lash had tortured his brother? Just ain

As Luchas groaned and took a deep breath, Qhuinn raised a hand topat hi But he didn&039;t follow through "Listen, you don&039;t need to talk"

Those bloodshot gray eyes locked on his "He kept me alivebecause of what I didto you"

Down on the gurney, tears welled and started to fall, his brother&039;s e as undoubtedly physical pain as well as the narcotics used to treat it

Because Qhuinn was hard-pressed to think that the guy would be showing anything like this under normal circumstances That hadn&039;t been the way they&039;d all been raised Etiquette over emotion

Always

"The Honor Guard" Luchas started to cry in earnest "QhuinnI&039;m so sorrysorry"

We&039;re not supposed to kill hi at the side of the road, thoseon him as he&039;d tried to protect his head and his balls Then it was up to the door to the Fade, to s caood things

Now, Qhuinn did touch his brother, resting his dagger hand on that thin shoulder "Shhit&039;s cool We&039;re good, it&039;s cool"

He wasn&039;t sure whether that was true, but what else was he going to say while the guy cracked?

"He wantedto turn ht meback around Woke up in the woods - his s to meput me in thatblood I waited for them to come back - never did"

"You&039;re safe here" That was all he could think of "You don&039;t worry about a da anywhere near you"

"Wherea center"

Those eyes widened "In truth?"

"Yeah"

"Indeed" Luchas&039;s expression shifted, those once handso even further "What of Mahe?"

Qhuinn just shook his head back and forth

And in response, a sudden strength came into that frail voice "Are you sure they are dead? Are you certain?"

As if he didn&039;t hat he had suffered on any of them

"Yeah, we&039;re sure"

Luchas sighed and closed his eyes

Shit Qhuinn felt a little cheap about lying, but in spite of the fact that the uy tanked, he didn&039;t want to send Luchas to the grave thinking that after what had been done with him, no one could be sure how many others had been taken - or when

In the quiet, Qhuinn looked down at his brother&039;s hand That signet ring had been left on - maybe because the knuckle above it was so swollen, they would have had to cut it off

The crest that had been carved into the gold face carried the sacred sye with And yeah, , it was coodda that had happened, you&039;d think he&039;d be disgusted

Then again, maybe it was just a knee-jerk reaction, an echo froet one of his own

"Qhuinn?"

"Yes?"

"I&039;h Luchas&039;s lids were closed "You don&039;t worry about anything You&039;re safe You&039;re back It&039;s all going to be okay"

As his brother&039;s chest rose and fell again like he was relieved, Qhuinn rubbed his face and didn&039;t feel good about any of it Not his brother&039;s condition - or his return

It wasn&039;t that he wanted the guy dead Tortured Frozen forever

But he had closed the door on all that faated it to the back of his ood, never to be looked at again