a thumb. She latched on
desperately, nursing him while she imagined what else of his could be between her lips.
He was the master of all of it, the driver, the one operating the machinery. He knew exactly what
he was doing to her as his fingers used the soft sweats and her wet panties to push her right up to
the cliff.
A voice in her head-his-said, «Come for me, Jane-«
From out of nowhere brilliant light hit her face, and she sprang upright, throwing her arms out to
shove the patient away.
Except he wasn't anywhere near her. He was in bed. Asleep.
And as for the light, it came from the hall. Red Sox had opened the bedroom door.
«Sorry to wake you guys,» he said. «We have a situation.»
As the patient sat up, he glanced at Jane. The moment their eyes met, she flushed and looked
away.
«Who?» the patient asked.
«Phury.» Red Sox nodded over to the chair. «We need a doctor. Like, ASAP.»
Jane cleared her throat. «Why are you looking at-«
«We need you.»
Her first thought was, the hell she was getting in deeper with them. But then the physician in her
spoke up. «What's going on?»
«Real uglysitch. Run-in with a baseball bat. Can you come with me?»
Her patient's voice got there first, the dead-on growl drawing one hell of a line in the sane: «If
she goes anywhere, I'm coming, too. And how bad is it?»
«He got clocked in the face. Bad. Refuses to go to Havers. Said Bella's there about the young,
and he doesn't want to upset her by showing up messy.»
«Goddamn brother just has to be a hero.» V looked at Jane. «Will you help us?»
After a moment, she rubbed her face. Goddamn it. «Yeah. I will.»
As John lowered the muzzle of the Glock he'd been given, he stared down the range at a target
fifty feet away. Slipping the safety back into place, he was utterly speechless.
«Jesus,» Blay said.
In total disbelief, John hit a yellow button to his left and the eight-and-a-half-by-eleven sheet of
paper whizzed up to him like a dog being called home. In the center, clustered like a daisy, were
six perfect shots. Holy shit. After having sucked at everything he'd been taught so far when it
came to fighting, he finally excelled at something.
Well, didn't this make him forget about his headache.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and Wrath's voice was proud. «You did good, son. Real
good.»
John reached out and undipped the target.
«All right,» Wrath said. «That's it for today. Check your weapons, boys.»
«Yo, Qhuinn,» Blay called out. «You see this?»
Qhuinn gave his gun to one of the doggen and came over. «Whoa. That's some real Dirty Harry
shit right there.»
John folded up the paper and put it in the back of his jeans. As he returned the weapon to the
cart, he tried to figure out how to identify it again so he could use it at the next practice. Ah…
although the serial numbers had been filed off, there was a faint mark on the barrel, a scratch. He
could totally find his gun again.
«Move out,» Wrath said as he propped his huge body against the door. «Bus is waiting.»
When John looked up from returning the gun, Lash was standing right behind him, all menace
and loom. In a smooth move the guy leaned in and put his Glock down with the muzzle aimed at
John's chest. To make the point, he lingered with his forefinger on the trigger for a moment.
Blay and Qhuinn fell in tight, blocking the way. The move in was all done real casual, like they
were just randomly hanging around, but the message was clear. With a shrug, Lash lifted his
hand free of the Glock and clipped Blay shoulder to shoulder as he headed for the door.
«Asshole,» Qhuinn muttered.
The three buds left for the locker room, where they picked up their books and headed out
together. Because John was going to use the tunnel to head back to the mansion, they stopped at
the door to Tohr's old office.
As the other trainees walked by, Qhuinn kept his voice low. «We have to go out tonight. I can't
wait.» He grimaced and shifted his stance like there was sandpaper in his pants. «I'm half-batshit
for a female, if you know what I mean?»
Blay flushed a little. «I'm… ah, yeah, I could deal with some action. John?»
Pumped from his success on the range, John nodded.
«Good.» Blay jacked up his jeans. «We got to hit ZeroSum.»
Qhuinn frowned. «How about Screamer's?»
«No, I want ZeroSum.»
«Fine. And we can go in my car.» Qhuinn glanced over. «John, why don't you get on the bus and
go
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