As they walked to the training center Phury glanced at John and thought that sometimes it took only a hairbreadth between cars to avoid a mortal accident.
Sometimes your whole life could hinge on a fraction of an inch. Or the beat of a nanosecond. Or the knock on a door.
Kind of made a male believe in the divine. It really did.
Chapter Forty-nine
Two months later...
Bella materialized in the front of the Brotherhood's mansion and looked up at the dour gray fa?搂ade. She had never expected to return. But fate had other plans for her.
She opened the outer door and stepped into the vestibule. As she hit the intercom and showed her face to the camera, she felt as if she were in some kind of dream.
Fritz opened the doors wide and bowed with a smile. "Madam! How nice to see you."
"Hi." She stepped inside and shook her head when he tried to take her coat. "I won't be long. I'm just here to talk to Zsadist. For a minute."
"But of course. Master is over here. Please to follow me?" Fritz led her across the foyer to a set of double doors, all the while chatting along merrily, updating her on things like what they'd all done for New Year's.
But the doggen paused before opening the way into the library. "Begging your pardon, madam, but you seem... Would you care to announce yourself? When you are ready?"
"Oh, Fritz, how well you know me. I would love a minute to myself."
He nodded and smiled and disappeared.
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She took a deep breath and listened to the voices and footsteps in the house. Some were low enough and loud enough to belong to the Brothers, and she glanced at her watch. Seven o'clock at night. They would be getting ready to go out.
She wondered how Phury was. And whether Tohr had returned yet. And how John was.
Stalling... she was stalling.
Now or never, she thought, grabbing onto a brass handle and twisting. One half of the door gave way soundlessly.
Her breath caught as she looked inside the library.
Zsadist was sitting at a table, bent down low over a piece of paper, a thin pencil in his heavy fist. Mary was next to him, and between the two of them there was a book open.
"Remember the hard consonants," Mary said, pointing to the book. "Check. Catch. The k and c in those words sound close, but aren't the same. Try again."
Zsadist put a hand up to his skull trim. In a low voice he said something that didn't carry. And then his pencil moved on the paper.
"That's good!" Mary put her hand on his bicep. "You've got it."
Zsadist looked up and smiled. Then his head whipped around toward Bella and he lost the expression.
Oh, good Virgin in the Fade, she thought as she drank in the sight of him. She still loved him. She knew it down to her gut-Wait a minute... What the... hell? His face was really different. Something had changed. Not the scar, but something was different.
Whatever, Get this over with so you can get going.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said. "I was wondering if I could talk to Zsadist."
She was vaguely aware of Mary getting up and coming over, of the two of them hugging, of the female leaving and shutting the door behind her.
"Hi," Zsadist said. Then slowly rose to his feet.
Bella's eyes widened, and she took a step back. "My... God. You're huge."
He put a hand to his thick pec. "Um... yeah. I've put on about eighty pounds. Havers... Havers said I'm probably not going to gain much more. But I'm about two-seventy now."
So that was the change in his face. His cheeks were not hollow anymore, his features no longer so stark, his eyes not sunken. He looked... almost handsome, actually. And much more like Phury.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, so, Rhage and I... we've been eating together."
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Jesus... They certainly had. Zsadist's body was nothing like she remembered. His shoulders were massive and corded with muscles she could see under the tight black T-shirt he was wearing. His biceps were three times the size they'd been, and his forearms were big enough now to fit the size of his hands. And his stomach... his belly was ribbed with strength, and his leathers were stretched over heavy, roped thighs.
"You've been feeding, too," she murmured. And instantly wished she could take the words back. As well as the tone of