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"She&039;s dead"

At the sound of the male voice, Lassiter looked over his shoulder Across his bedroo himself up by the jambs

Lassiter put down the fleece he&039;d been packing The suitcase routine wasn&039;t because he could take any of his shit with hiet his stuff in order for the suot sucked back into the In Between, the staff was going to have to ditch the clothes he&039;d worn and the few things he&039;d collected

The Brother entered and shut theether

"She&039;s dead" He lie "There, I said it"

Lassiter lowered his ass down on the bed and stared at the guy "And you think that&039;s enough"

"What the fuck do you want froh "Please If I were running this show, you&039;d have had her back down here one"

Tohr laughed a little in surprise

"Aw, come on, my man," Lassiter muttered "I don&039;t want to screw you You&039;re too flat chested, for one thing - I&039;uy You deserve better than this"

Now Tohr looked downright shocked

"Oh, for fuck&039;s sake" Lassiter got up and went back to the open drawers of the dresser Pulling out a pair of leathers, he ain

Futzing around with his hands was supposed to help his brain focus Didn&039;t work all that well, though Maybe he should just sla somewhere?" the Brother asked after a while

"Yeah"

"Giving up on me?"

"I told you I don&039;t et pulled out, and it&039;s going to be sooner rather than later"

"Pulled out to where?"

"Where I was" He shuddered, even though it was a pussy uy like hi"

"Would you be going where Wellsie is?"

"I told you, everyone&039;s In Between is different"

Tohr put his head in his hands "I can&039;t just turn myself off She was my life How the hell do I - "

"You can start by not trying to castrate yourself with a fist when you get a hard-on for another fe, Lassiter had a feeling the guy had teared up And yeah, , didn&039;t that s aard God Da angel for this job, for real"

"I never cheated on her" Tohr inhaled sharply through his nose, the sniff entirely manly, as sniffles went "Other males even bonded ones, I mean, they look at females from time to time Maybe they screw around a little on the side Not h to keep me satisfied Hell, when Wrath needed someone to keep an eye on Beth back before they were mated? He sent me He kneouldn&039;t come on to her, not just out of respect for hi to be interested in the slightest I have literally never had an instant when I thought of anyone else"

"You did tonight"

"Don&039;t remind me"

Well, at least he copped to it "Which is why I&039;-back Land And your shellan is staying where she is"

Tohr rubbed the center of his chest like it hurt "Are you sure I didn&039;t die and go to this In Between already? Because this sure as shit feels like what you&039;ve described Suffering but not Dhund"

"I don&039;t know Maybe some people aren&039;t aware they&039;re in it - but my directive was clear as a bell, and it was all about you letting go so she could move on"

Tohr dropped his hands like he was so done with the world "I never thought there was going to be so I couldn&039;t fathom any course of events that would hurt more" He cursed "I should have known that fate is sadistic as well as endlessly inventive Iets the one I love into the Fade Fabulous equation Just frickin&039; fantastic"

That wasn&039;t the half of it, Lassiter thought But why bring it up now

"I have to know soel, do you believe that certain people are cursed froht out of the box?"

"I think" Shit, he didn&039;t go this deep This was not him "I - ah, I think that life runs on a set of odds that are spread out over the heads of every living, breathing bastard on the planet Chance is unfair by definition, and random"

"So what about this Creator of yours? Doesn&039;t He play a role?"

"Ours," he muttered "And I don&039;t know I don&039;t put el who&039;s an atheist?"

Lassiter laughed a little "Maybe that&039;s why I keep getting into trouble"

"Nah That part&039;s because you can be a real asshole"

They both chuckled Then sat in silence

"So what&039;s it going to take?" Tohr asked "Honestly, what the hell is destiny going to want from me now?"

"The same as any endeavor Blood, sweat, and tears"