He was not about to talk about all that, however. “I killed him. I saved her life and I took her assailant’s—”
“You disabled the fucker and then castrated him while he was still alive. And then you started cutting pieces of him off until he died.”
“Balthazar did the same thing. You said so yourself.”
“Not even close. He toyed with a slayer. You, on the other hand, inflicted pain in a deliberate manner.”
“Splitting hairs.”
“You think? You had a victim waiting for aid, and you still had to get the suffering in, right? Even though she needed medical attention, you just had to get that release or the roar inside your body was going to destroy you. Am I right.”
Again, not a question. And Boone became acutely aware that any of the Brothers could show up out of thin air at any moment.
Boone cursed at himself. At what he had done. At the fact that the Bastard seemed to be walking around in Boone’s own skull.
Syn’s voice dropped in volume, the deep tones nearly seductive. “When you came out into the field tonight, even though you’re not supposed to be here, you would have kept going until you found something to play with. Until you got the poison out of you. Until you slaked your thirst for bloodshed.”
With a slow pivot, Boone turned to Syn. “How do you know so much about . . .”
The change in the Bastard was instantaneous. Gone was the snakelike knowing stare, as if it had never existed.
“I’m just giving you feedback on your performance,” Syn said dryly. “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do with you trainees.”
Bullshit, Boone thought. You know exactly what I was doing in that alley. And your eyes lit up because you know how good it feels to have something at your mercy.
A sudden feeling of dread washed over Boone. “Have you ever been to Pyre’s Revyval?”
The warrior’s expression didn’t change. And his body didn’t shift. And his eyes didn’t flicker in the slightest.
“No,” he said evenly. “I haven’t.”
* * *
Helania was back at her apartment, sitting at her little kitchen table in her P.J.s, her laptop open and hard copies of work fanned out in front of her. Not that she was getting much editing done. She had been in this chair, staring into space, for how long now?
Two hours. It was a little after four a.m.
After a nice-enough meal at The 24 Hr. Diner, she had left Paradise and Craeg in the back parking lot around one-thirty. Dematerializing home, she had taken a load off on her sofa and cradled her phone in her palms like it was a crystal ball, soon to tell her what the future held.
Following about a half hour of that nonsense, she had forced herself to get up, get changed and move over here. Like this was so much more productive, her papers lying untouched on the table, her screen saver spitting bubbles out over the Word document she should have been typing into, her butt going numb.
With a stretch, she looked toward her door as if that would send vibes out into the universe that someone needed to be coming through it. And no, she wasn’t talking about old school Avon.
That black cloak hanging with her other jackets by the exit was a reminder of the distraction from her true purpose. The time wasted. The neutral that she had allowed herself to fall into.
All because of Boone. And still, she had heard nothing from him.
Pushing her chair back, she put her hands on her stomach. She’d eaten way too much at the diner, but given that she couldn’t remember when her last meal before that had been, she probably didn’t need to worry about the calories. Furthermore, it did not appear that anybody was seeing her naked tonight.
Dearest Virgin Scribe, where was Boone? What had happened to him—
Her phone started ringing, the vibration sending it on a little wander next to her laptop, and instantly, her hand snapped out to grab the thing. As she saw who it was, she exhaled a soft curse.
“Boone—”
“Helania, I am so sorry.” His voice over the connection was the best thing she had ever heard. “I didn’t mean to miss the diner—”
“Are you okay—”
“—but I had to deal with an emergency—”
“—all I care about is—”
“—I’m fine.”
“—that you’re all right.”
They both ended there and took a deep breath at the same time.
The relief was stunning as it flooded through Helania’s body, her muscles loosening, her head swimming such