The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13) - J. R. Ward Page 0,129

leg is broken,” Zypher said.

Whilst he settled himself upon the sofa, a sharp nausea threatened to empty his stomach, but he buried that response as well, swallowing down the risen bile. “It shall mend.”

“There are victuals here.”

He didn’t know who said that. Did not care. “Where is the liquor?”

“Here.”

As a bottle of God only knew what appeared before him, he took what was proffered, shucked the cap, and brought the open mouth to his lips. Vodka it was, the white bite burning the back of his throat and lighting a second set of flames in his gut.

It had been a very, very long trip home, with him dematerializing mile by mile because they had no motorized conveyances at their disposal. And now, all he wanted was to be left alone—and he feared, given that all of them were here and worrying over him, it was going to take more energy than he had to get his soldier to go in peace.

“You were nearly killed,” Balthazar said from by the door.

He drank more of the spirit. “Yourself as well—”

“Someone is here,” Syphon said by the bay window. “A car.”

Immediately, all guns were unholstered and trained upon the glass—except for his. Beneath his thin jacket, his arm was hanging limp, the joint most likely dislocated.

And he was not putting down the vodka.

“Who is it,” he demanded, thinking it was likely the doggen he had sought to hire.

“’Tis a female,” someone breathed. “And not of the servant class.”

Instantly, Xcor wrenched around and bared his fangs. But he didn’t need visual confirmation. There was only one female who knew about this place, and who would come in a car.

“Leave us,” he commanded. “Now.”

When his Band of Bastards just stood in a semi-circle, transfixed by what was out that fucking window, he released a lion’s growl. “Leave us!”

Zypher cleared his throat. “She is bonny, indeed, Xcor—”

“And she shall be the last sight e’er you behold if you don’t get out of here!”

One by one, the soldiers grudgingly dematerialized … such that, when his female knocked upon the door, he was by himself.

Seeking further fortification from the bottle, he drank hard; then rousted himself off the couch, walked over and opened the panels wide.

The second Layla looked at him, she exclaimed, “You’re hurt!”

The shock in her face was such that he glanced down at himself and his bloodstained clothes. “Yes, it would appear I am.” Funny, now that she was before him, he felt no more pain. “Won’t you come and warm yourself by the fire.”

As if there were nothing wrong. As if she hadn’t blown him off when they were supposed to have met at midnight—so she could give him her decision.

He knew her answer, however. Her previous absence was all the reply required—she had clearly come to her senses.

Layla stepped inside, her eyes going up and down his body. “Xcor, what happened?”

“Nothing.” He closed them in. “I thought you indicated you could not get away.”

“I saw what happened downtown. And I had to…”

“Had to what? Come here to see if I had died and thus set you free of your obligation?” When she didn’t answer, he chuckled and returned to the couch. “Pardon me, but I need to sit.”

He was acutely aware of that stare of hers tracking him. And no doubt her keen ears caught the groan that he did his best to hide.

“You should go to a doctor.”

Xcor laughed and took another drink from the bottle. “You think this warrants attention? The Black Dagger Brotherhood must have a different standard for injury than we do. I have had much, much worse happen upon me in the course of centuries. This is naught of consequence, nothing that shall not be cured upon the night’s fall.”

“When was the last time you fed?”

Abruptly, his body stilled. “Are you offering.”

As she got busy looking everywhere in the cottage but at him, he laughed softly again. “I’ll take that as a no. Besides, you already aided and abetted the enemy once, and we all know how well that turned out.”

“Why are you baiting me?”

He drank anew, swallowing hard. “Because I feel like it. And I’m a bastard, remember? A bastard who has forced you to come unto my presence night after night whilst you become heavy with another male’s young.”

“You are in pain.”

“Actually, now that you are here, I am no longer.”

That quieted her for a moment.

And then he was shocked when she took steps forward, approaching the couch … because as she came forth, she pushed