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Roag sauntered across the abandoned brewery, kicking through the piles of va calmly at the two left alive, cuffed to each other in a puddle of their own blood "You two handled things well enough" He jerked his chin at Wraith "Looks like you found our long-lost little brother Not o find the whore I just balled"

Shade and Eidolon had known Roag for ten years before they’d found Wraith, twenty-two years old and nearly dead, but never had they seen the ice-cold side of hi’s strange jealousy of Wraith causing a rift between all of the went through his s’genesis ten years ago

Roag had not coone es Shade was right; if Roag hadn’t died when he did, he’d either have been killed by other deht hi, Eidolon would have been required to carry out the punishment

"Shit" Eidolon sank into a chair and buried his face in his hands "I need to talk to Tayla"

"Has she agreed to bond with you?"

Eidolon looked up "She doesn’t want me"

Shade crossed his ar "She’s a fool"

"I can’t blame her She thinks I want her because she’s ht?"

He swore, frustration and conflicting e in his mind "I don’t know"

"What is it about her that has you all wound up?"

A dull ache pounded in his chest "She’s brave Strong What she’s lived through" He shook his head, a with so --until her" He rubbed his breastbone as though he could relieve the empty sensation inside

"Fuck me, I love her"

"Well, I’d say you have your answer She’s not a last resort"

"She’ll never believe that, and I don’t have tiazes with his brother "I can feel The Change, Shade I’ht came into Shade’s eyes "Maybe--"

"Don’t I’ve already had a taste of how it’s going to be, and who I am now is not who I’ll be afterward But I need so" Shade’s voice trembled

"I want Tayla cared for She’s to have full access to my bank accounts, and I want her set up in an apartive her a once-over as soon as possible"

Shade’s brow furrowed "For what? Oh Oh,tact lessons froain, haven’t you?" Eidolon , but if she does, she’ll need to understand that going through with the integration is the only thing that will save them both"

Shade shook his head "I can’t do the procedure without you"

"I’ve been thinking about that I believe you can You’ll need Geot a shot If you don’t do it, she’ll die anyway One " He took a deep breath and spat it out "If I turn out like Roag--"

"You won’t," Shade croaked "You won’t"

"Put me down"

"E"

"Promise me, Shade I don’t want to live like that You have to pro over and over, Shade nodded Then he turned on his heel and headed inside Eidolon followed "What are you doing?"

Shade drew to a halt in theplopped to the floor at his feet A tear "I’ Wraith," he said, his voice shot to hell "We’re all gonna do the brother thing today, ’kay?"

"Yeah," Eidolon said, his own voice cracking "Sounds good"

Kynan was still reeling fro with Tayla five hours earlier He couldn’t decide which orse: people he trusted being de to his frustration was the fact that Jagger and four other Guardians were nowhere to be found, and when he asked Lori if she’d seen anything strange going on within the cell, she’d said no and then promptly seduced hiuy, after all--but afterward she’d been anxious to go out hunting, when usually, daytime sex sent her into a fit of domesticity Guardians joked that they could tell how frisky she and Ky and been by how many batches of cookies she baked in a week

Half an hour before sunset, just as he was preparing to dial Lori for a status check, the phone rang

"Ky"

"It’s Tay"

"What do you want?"

Her soft sigh crackled over the bad cell connection "I guess you haven’t learned anything" When he didn’t answer, because he wasn’t about to tell her that his spidey-sense was tingling, she sighed again

"We think the captured de held at the old zoo If any Guardians are involved, that’s where they’re going Tonight"

Sout, because as et to the bottom of this, if only to prove that his people weren’t involved, he was terrified that Tayla ht

Or it could be a trap He couldn’t trust anything she said Not anymore

"Kynan? Did you hear me?"

"Loud and clear"