Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood 8)

John cursed in his head as he looked around. Everything was neat and tidy. Nothing out of place. No windows cracked for fresh air or doors that had been recently opened.

The fine dust on the knobs and the fastenings told him that.

She might have been here, but she was gone now. And if she had come, she hadn't stayed long or done much, because he could detect nothing of her scent.

He felt like he'd lost her all over again.

Christ, he'd thought that her being alive would be enough to carry him through--but the idea she was somewhere on the planet and yet not with him was strangely crippling. Plus he felt blinded by the situation; he still didn't know the hows and whats and wheres of any of it.

Flat out sucked, to be honest.

Eventually, he went out to join Rehv on the little porch. Grabbing his pad, he scribbled quickly and prayed to hell the symphath could understand where he was coming from.

Rehv looked over his shoulder and read what John held up. After a moment, he said, "Yeah. Sure. I'll just tell them she wasn't here and you came with me to go eat at iAm's place. It'll buy you a good three, four hours of space minimum. "

John put his palm over his pec and bowed deeply.

"Just don't go out fighting. I don't need to know where you're going, that's your biz. But if you get yourself killed, I got ninety- nine problems and you're the biggest one of them. " Rehv looked back out to the river. "And don't worry about her. She's done this once before. This is the second time she's been. . . taken away like that. "

John's hand snatched out and grabbed hard onto the male's forearm. Rehv didn't even flinch. . . then again, there were rumors he couldn't feel anything because of what he did to control his symphath side.

"Yup. This is number two. She and Murhder had been going together--" As John's fangs made an appearance, Rehv smiled a little. "That's long passed. No need to worry there. But she ended up heading to the colony for family reasons. They played her, though, and wouldn't let her out. When Murhder went up to get her, the symphaths snatched him as well, and shit got critical. I had to make a bargain to get them both out, but her family sold her at the last second, right out from under my nose. "

John swallowed hard and signed without thinking. To who?

"Humans. She got herself free, though, just like she did this time. And then she went away for a while. " Now Rehv's amethyst eyes flashed. "She'd always been tough, but after whatever those humans did to her, she got hard. "

When, John mouthed.

"Some twenty years ago. " Rehv resumed staring out at the water. "FYI, she wasn't kidding in that message. She's not going to appreciate anyone coming in and being her hero with Lash. She's going to have to do that herself. You want to help the situation? Let her come to you when she's ready-- and stay out of her way. "

Yeah, well, she probably wasn't going to be in a hurry to text his ass, John thought. And as for the Lash thing? He wasn't sure he could let that one go. Even for her.

To cut off his own thinking, John put out his palm. The two of them met chest-to-chest in a brief hug and then John dematerialized.

When he took form, he was back at the Xtreme Park, behind the shed, looking out over the empty ramps and bowls. The head drug pusher wasn't back. No skating, either. Both made sense. Raid the night before with a shitload of cops coming? To say nothing of the bullet shower?

Place was going to be a ghost town for a while.

John leaned against rough wood, his senses alert. He was aware of time passing, both because of the position of the moon pinwheeling in an arc overhead, and because his brain downshifted from manic spin to a more reasonable churn. Which still sucked but was easier to sit with.

She was out and he didn't even know what condition she was in. Was she hurt? Did she need to feed? Did--

Right. Time to stop playing that loop.

And he probably should take off. Wrath had been pretty damned clear about that no-fighting-without-Qhuinn business and this would still be considered a hot spot for the enemy.

Abruptly, he realized where he had to go.

Pushing himself out of his lean, he paused and looked around with a frown. The sensation of being watched, of being followed, cloaked him once again--just like it had back at that tat shop.

Tonight, however, he just didn't have the energy to support a good dose of paranoia, so he simply dematerialized, figuring whoever or whatever it was would either track him again or he'd lose them in the ether--and he didn't care which it would be.

He was pretty fucking worn-out.

When he took form again, he was a mere handful of blocks from where he'd done the number on that lesser the night before. From the inner pocket of his leather jacket, he took out a copper key that was just like the one Rehv had put to use on the hunting cabin.

He'd had the thing for about a month and a half. Xhex had given it to him the night he had told her she could trust him with her symphath secret, and like her cilices, he took it with him wherever he went.