with us for l

. Not if he could he

Fritz bent at the waist again and walked backward o

a French king. He put his hand on the right side of the heavy gold fram

vid's sumptuous quarters. The other opened to what Wreck supposed was a home away from home for him. Most days he slept

sa there. Or even any of the br

Wreck's eyesight, David had painted the walls and twenty-foot-high ceiling black. In one corner there was a massive bed with black satin sheets and a thicket of pi

a goddamned mystery. There wasn't a defense issue, because David could handle

e into the room. The scent of the o

g to get back to the streets. He'd had only a taste

rned

m, he sensed devotion and uneasiness w

rd," s

ng, and her long blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. He knew sh

cket and the chest holster

d they given him a femal

n in before his transition, maybe they'd w

ps curling up thick, one sho

. Their little boy had turned

, he thought. They wouldn't ha

llowed to live into old age,

I'm sorry to disturb you. Bu

the bathroom. "Yo

grime, sweat, and death from his hands. Then he worked the bar of soap up his arms, covering with suds the ritualistic tattoos that

rissa a while before she could approach him. If it had been anyone else,

old her time and again that he'd release her of their covenant, free her to find a true

bly feared no other female would have him, that none would feed the beast when he needed it and th

lineage. She never knew where he was or what he was doing. She passed the long days alone in her brother's house, sa

't know how she

night was stacking up to be a real

relax, kept his breathing even, made his body still. This was the hardest part of being with her. He panic

busy, my lord?"

was lucky, he was going to ge

cutting through her uneasiness. He sensed her desire, too. She

gine putting Marissa through the things he'd done to other female b

ropped his forearm on his thigh, wrist up. "You're

skin as she softly ran her hand over his tattoos, stroking the black characters that detailed his lineage in the old language.

led his free arm around the edge of the couch, his muscles straining as he gripped the corner to keep

he had his shit together, he went over to her. She was replete, absorbing the strength that came to her as their blood mixed. He didn't like the look of her l

room, carried her to the

" she murmured. "I w

et over her legs before walking

jazzed up ab

bout to ask what the hell would warrant the disrupti

ing that death had

vid wa

ste

n he would deal with later

together, his voice reedy and thin as his old body. "A bomb, my lo

n down. He wished he knew whether it

sors, going back for centuries, had fought like warriors

," he ground out. "Te

ve this to you" - the butler held something out -

amber, having no compassion to offer Fritz or any

missive into the waistb

his ra

d around him, growing tighter, faster, darker until the furniture flipped off t