Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood 10)

Oh, man, they had to do this in front of the whole Brotherhood?

Then again, what else could she have expected? The groupthink was so pervasive in this bunch of males, of course they'd all want to be present when things were finished.

She stood strong. "Let's get this over with. Where do I sign?"

Wrath frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"On the papers. "

The king glanced over at John. Looked back. "This is not the kind of thing I'll be reducing to writing. Ever. "

Xhex glanced around and then refocused on John, reading his emotional grid. He was. . . nervous. Saddened. And purposeful in such a powerful way, she was momentarily struck stupid.

"What the hell is going on here," she demanded.

The king's voice was loud and clear. "I have an assignment for you - if you're interested. Something that I have on good authority you can discharge with remarkable skill. Assuming you are open to helping us. "

Xhex stared at John in shock.

He was responsible for this, she thought. Whatever wheels were turning in this room, he had set them in motion.

"What have you done?" she said directly to him.

That got him to look at her properly. Raising his hands, he signed, There are limits to what we can do. We need you for this.

Glancing at Rehv, she got a whole lot of grave coming back at her - and nothing more. No censure, no girls-not-allowed. Same for the rest of the males in the room: There was nothing but calm acceptance of her presence. . . and her capabilities.

"What exactly do you want from me?" she said to the king slowly.

As the male spoke, she continued to look at John while hearing things like Band of Bastards. . . an assassination attempt. . . their lair. . . a rifle.

With each passing sentence, her brows cranked higher and higher.

Okay, so not about a bake sale or some shit. This was locating the heart of the enemy, infiltrating their secure domain, and removing any long-range weaponry that could have been used to try to kill Wrath the night before.

Thus providing the Brotherhood, if all went as expected, with the proof they needed to condemn Xcor and his soldiers to death.

Xhex put her hands on her hips - so they wouldn't start rubbing together with glee. This was right up her alley - an impossible proposition backed up by a principle she could get behind: revenge on someone who had fucked you.

"So what do you think?" Wrath asked.

Xhex stared over at John, willing him to look at her again. When he did not, she just reread his emotional grid: He was terrified, but he was resolved.

He wanted her to do this. But why? What the hell had changed?

"Yeah, it's something I'm interested in," she heard herself say.

As deep male voices growled approval, the king curled up a fist and banged it on the desk. "Good! Well-done. There's just one thing. "

A catch. Naturally. "I work best on my own. I don't want eight hundred pounds of babysitter sneaking around behind me. "

"Nope. You go by yourself - knowing that you have all our resources as backup if you need or want them. The one constraint is that you can't kill Xcor. "

"No problem, I'll just bring him in alive for questioning. "

"Nope. You can't touch him. No one can until we analyze the bullet. And then if we find what I think we will, he's Tohr's to kill. By official proclamation. "