Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood 8)

Xhex halted him, freezing him so she could kneel down right beside him. Going face-to-face, she looked into his eyes and hissed. "You don't go after what's mine. Now be a good boy and gut yourself. "

A splatter of black blood hit her leather pants as the guy nailed himself right in the stomach and dragged the blade crosswise, making a nice messy hole of things.

And then on her mental command, even as his eyes were rolling back in his head, he withdrew the weapon and handed it to her hilt first.

"You're welcome," she muttered. Then she stabbed him in the heart and in a flash, he was gone.

As she pivoted around, the sole of her boot squeaked on the wet floor.

John was looking up at her with eyes that were not dissimilar to the slayer's, his stare peeled so wide he was showing no lid at all on the top or the bottom.

Xhex wiped her first blade on her leathers. "How bad are you?"

As John gave her a thumbs-up, A-OK, she realized the house was quiet and looked around. Everyone was still standing: Qhuinn was just straightening from a decapitation, and wheeling around to see if John was okay. And Rhage was coming in at a run from the kitchen with Vishous on his heels.

"Who's hit--" Rhage skidded to a halt and stared at the hole in John's leathers. "Man, three inches up and to the left and you'da been a soprano, buddy. "

V went over and helped John to his feet. "Yeah, but at least he could have taken up knitting with you. You could've taught him how to crochet socks. Brings a tear to the eye. "

"If I recall, I'm not the one with the wool fixation--"

As a wheezing boiled up from the living room, Vishous cursed and rushed to Butch's side as the guy all but fell into the hallway.

Oh. . . man. Maybe she needed to revise the "everyone standing" thing. The former cop looked like he had food poisoning, malaria, and H1N1 all at the same time.

She focused on Qhuinn and Rhage. "We need a car. He and John need transport back to the mansion--"

"I'll take care of my boy," Vishous said gruffly as he became a crutch for Butch and escorted him back over to the living room couch.

"And I'll go get the Hummer," Qhuinn said.

Just as he turned away, John slammed a fist into the wall to get everyone's attention and signed, I'm fine to fight--

"You need to get seen by the doctor," she said.

John's hands started to fly so fast she couldn't track the words, but it was pretty damn clear that he was not on board with getting benched just because of the slug of lead in his leg.

Their argument was interrupted by a brilliant glow that had her leaning to the side and glancing over her shoulder. What she saw explained so much and not just what had happened in the fight they'd all been in: on the ratty sofa, V had Butch in his arms and their heads were together, the pair of them so close there was no gap whatesoever between them. And in the midst of their embrace, Vishous's whole body was glowing, with Butch seeming to draw strength and healing from him.

V's obvious care and sympathy for the guy made her dislike him less-- especially as he turned his face and looked over at her. For once, his icy mask slipped and the despair showing in his eyes proved he wasn't a total asshole. On the contrary, he seemed to feel the pain of his Brother's sacrifice for the race. Truly, it ate him alive.

Oh, and. . . Butch was apparently his. Which explained why V had it in for her. He was jel that she'd had a piece of what he'd wanted, and as rational as he was, he couldn't stop resenting her for it.

Only once, though, she thought at him. And never again.

After a moment, V nodded, as if he appreciated the reassurance, and she returned the respect. Then she refocused on the males in front of her. Rhage had hopped on the hell-no-you're-not-fighting train, picking up the slack she'd left.

"I'm going back with you, John," she cut in. "We're going back together. "

As John met her eyes, his emotional grid was lit up like the Vegas Strip.

She shook her head at him. "I'm going to keep to our deal. And you're going to take care of yourself. "

With that, she resheathed her knives, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back against the wall, all going-nowhere-fast.

She'd saved his life.

Without a doubt, Xhex had given John his future back before he'd even known he was going to lose it: The only reason he was still alive was because she'd clipped that slayer in the shoulder with her knife.