He cut off her awkward rambling by striding over to her, that red cane of his jabbing into the tile, his loafers clapping heel-toe, heel-toe. His expression was fierce, his violet eyes burning.
It was enough to give her a complex.
Pulling her sheet up higher, she muttered, "What the hell is wrong with y--"
Rehv swooped down with his long arms and gathered her up against him, tucking her with vital care to his chest. Ducking his head to hers, his voice was deep and grave.
"I never thought I would see you again. "
As he shuddered, she lifted her hands up to his torso. After holding herself back for a moment. . . she embraced him as fully as he did her.
"You smell the same," she said roughly, putting her nose right into the collar of his fine silk shirt. "Oh. . . God, you smell the same. "
The expensive spiced cologne took her back to the days at ZeroSum when it was the four of them: him at the helm, iAm on the books, Trez on operations, her on security.
The scent was the hook that snagged her and pulled her through the keyhole of the abduction, tying her to her past, bridging the horrid span of the last three weeks.
She didn't want the tether, though. It was just going to make her departure harder. Better to be grounded in immediate events and immediate goals.
And then just float away.
Rehv pulled back. "I don't want to wear you out, so I'm not going to stay. But I needed. . . Yeah. "
"Yeah. "
Together, they held on to each other's arms and as always she felt that commonality between them, their shared half- blood sides latching on as symphaths did with one another.
"You need anything?" he asked. "Food?"
"Doc Jane said nothing solid for another couple hours. "
"Okay. Listen, we'll talk about the future--"
"In the future. " As she spoke, she projected into her mind an image of them in deep discussion. Which was produced solely to buy him off in the event he was reading her.
Unclear whether he bought it. "I live here now, by the way," he said.
"Where am I exactly?"
"Brotherhood's training center. " He frowned. "I thought you'd been here before. "
"Not this part. But yeah, I thought that's where they'd taken me. Ehlena was really good to me, by the way. In there. " She nodded in the direction of the OR. "And before you ask, I'm going to be fine. Doc Jane said so. "
"Good. " He gave her hand a squeeze. "I'll go get John. "
"Thanks. "
At the door, Rehv paused and then shot narrowed amethyst eyes over his shoulder. "Listen up. " The asshole went unsaid. "You matter. Not just to me, but to a lot of people. So you do what you have to and get your head right. But don't think I'm clueless about what you're planning for afterward. "
She glared right back at him. "Fucking sin-eater. "
"You know it. " Rehv cocked an eyebrow. "And I know you too well. Don't be a fucker, Xhex. You've got all of us on your side and you can get through this. "
As he ducked out, she found his faith in her resilience admirable. But she wasn't buying it.
In fact, just the thought of any future beyond Lash's funeral sent a wave of exhaustion blowing through her bloodstream. With a groan, she closed her eyes and prayed that for the love of all that was holy, Rehvenge would stay out of her biz. . .
Xhex woke up with a gasp. She had no idea how long she'd been out. Or where John--