But then a blond-haired Brother materialized out of thin air right beside the two. The warrior swooped down and tore the lesser off the human, breaking whatever link had been forged-From out of the shadows, Van came over and blocked Mr. X's view. "How'd you like to get out of here?"
Probably the safest course. He was about to pass out. "Yeah... and move fast."
As Mr. X got picked up and rushed to the minivan, his head bobbed like a half-stuffed doll's, and he watched through the wobbles as the blond Brother disintegrated the other lesser then knelt to check on the human.
Such fucking heroes.
Mr. X let his eyes go lax. And thanked a God he didn't believe in that Van Dean was too much of a new recruit to know that lessers didn't take their injured back home with them.
Usually, a damaged slayer was left where he fell either for the Brothers to stab him back to the Omega or for him to gradually rot.
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Mr. X felt himself get shoved into the minivan, and then the engine started and they were off. Easing over onto his back, he felt around his chest, assessing the damage. He was going to recover. It would take time, but his body wasn't so hurt that it couldn't regenerate.
As Van hung a sharp right, X was thrown against the door.
At his grunt of pain, Van looked back. "Sorry."
"Fuck it. Get us gone."
As the engine grew louder again, Mr. X closed his eyes. Man, that human showing up alive and breathing?
Serious trouble. Serious trouble. What had happened? And why didn't the Omega know that the human still lived? Especially because the guy reeked of the master's presence?
Shit, who knew the whys. The more important thing was, now that X was aware that the man lived, did he tell the Omega? Or would that little news flash be what triggered another change in leadership and got X
condemned forever? He'd sworn to the master that the Brothers had taken that guy out. He'd look like an idiot when it turned out not to be true.
The thing was, he was alive and on this side now, and he had to keep himself here until Van Dean came into his power. So, no... there would be no report on the Trojan human.
But the man was a dangerous liability. One that had to be eliminated ASAP.
Butch lay stiff on the snowy ground, trying to catch his breath, still caught in whatever the hell happened when he and one of those lessers got tight.
As his stomach rolled, he wondered where Rhage was. After Hollywood had cut off the link to the lesser and killed the bastard, he'd headed into the woods to make sure there were no others around.
So it was probably a good idea to get vertical and re-armed in case more came.
As Butch pushed himself up on his arms, he saw the mother and child across the lawn. They were cowering by a shed, wrapped up together as tight as vines. Shit... he recognized them; he'd seen them at Havers's. These were the two Marissa had been sitting with the day he'd finally left the quarantine room.
Yeah, this was definitely the pair. The young had a cast on her lower leg.
Poor things, he thought. Huddled as they were, they were like every human victim he'd ever seen on the job, the characteristics of trauma transcending species lines: The mother's wide eyes and pale skin and shattered illusions that life was okay were exactly what he'd dealt with before.
He got to his feet and went over to them slowly.
"I'm a-" He almost said police detective. "I'm a friend. I know what you are and I'm going to take care of you."
The mother's dilated eyes lifted from her daughter's messy hair.
Keeping his voice level and not taking one step closer, he pointed to the Escalade. "I'd like you both to go sit Page 216
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in that car. I'll give you the keys so you're in control and can lock yourself in. Then I'm going to do a quick check-in with my partner, okay? After that, you're going to Havers's."
He waited as the female surveyed him with a calculation he was very familiar with: Would he hurt her or her child? she was wondering. Did she dare trust someone of the opposite sex? What were her other options?
Keeping her daughter tight in her arms, she struggled to her feet, then held her hand way