dropping in number, especially among Primes. The Brothers were getting stronger. The Blind King had ascended. Mr. X was not holding a strong front.
And all of that was true. But none of it was what cinched the deal.
No, the closing had happened on account of the Omega's whim for O.
In the Society's history, there had been some instances when the Omega had taken a personal interest, if you could call it that, in a specific lesser. It wasn't the boon you'd think. The Omega's affections were intense and short-lived, and the breakups were gruesome, according to the rumors. But O was willing to beg and pretend and lie to get what he needed, and the Omega had taken what was offered.
What a horrible way to kill a couple of hours. But so worth it.
He wondered idly what was happening to Mr. X right now. When O had been released the Omega had been about to call the other slayer home, and it must have happened already. The former Fore-lesser's weapons were on the table, his cell phone and BlackBerry, too. And there was a scorched star-burst over there by the front door.
O glanced up at the digital clock across the room. Even though he felt like roadkill, it was time to motivate. He picked up Mr. X's phone, dialed, and held the thing to his ear.
"Yeah, sensei?" U answered.
"Been a change in leadership. I want you to be my second in command."
Silence. Then: "Holy shit. What happened to Mr. X?"
"He's eating his pink slip right now. So are you in?"
"Ah, yeah. Sure. I'm your boy."
"You're in charge of the check-ins from now on. No reason to do it in person. E-mail's fine. And I'm keeping the squads as is. Primes in pairs. Betas in groups of four. Get the announcement out about Mr. X. Then get Page 88
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your ass here to the cabin."
O hung up. He didn't give a shit about the Society. Couldn't care less about the stupid war with the vampires.
He had two objectives: Get his woman back dead or alive. And kill the scarred Brother who'd taken her.
As he stood up, he happened to look down at his body, at his limp maleness. A horrible thought snaked through his mind.
Vampires, unlike lessers, were not impotent.
He pictured his beautiful, pure wife... saw her naked, her hair all over her pale shoulders, the elegant curves of her slender body catching the light. Gorgeous. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Utterly feminine.
Something to be worshiped and possessed. But never fucked. A Madonna.
Except anything with a cock would want that. Vampire, human, lesser. Anything.
Violence threaded through him, and abruptly he hoped she was dead. Because if that ugly bastard had tried to have sex with her... man, O was going to castrate that brother with a spoon before killing him.
And God help her if she enjoyed it.
Chapter Sixteen
When Phury woke up, it was three fifteen in the afternoon. He'd slept like crap, still so pissed off at what had happened the night before that his adrenal glands were working overtime. Which was hardly conducive to shut-eye.
He reached for a blunt and lit it. As he drew the red smoke into his lungs and held on tight, he tried not to imagine going to Zsadist's room and waking the brother up with a jaw shot. But the fantasy was righteous appealing.
Goddamn it, he couldn't believe Z had tried to take Bella like that, and actually hated his twin for the depravity. Hated himself, too, for being stupidly surprised. For so long he'd been sure that something had survived Z's slavery... that some small flicker of a soul was left in the male. After last night? No more doubts about his twin's cruel nature. None.
And, shit, the real ass burner was knowing he'd let Bella down. He should never have left her in Z's bedroom.
Couldn't stand that he'd sacrificed her safety for his need to believe.
Bella...
He thought about how she'd allowed him to hold her. In those fleeting moments he'd felt powerful, capable of protecting her against an army of lessers. For that short time, she'd transformed him into a true male, one who was needed and served a purpose.
What a revelation to be something other than a reactive half-wit chasing after a destructive, suicidal madman.
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He'd desperately wanted to stay the night with her, and he'd left only because it was the right thing to do. She was exhausted, but more than that-and in spite of his