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"What&039;s changed, John"

In the bedroom he and Xhex had once shared, John went over to the s and felt the cold wafting through the clear glass Down below, the gardens were bathed in security lighting, the false rout around the terrace&039;s slate slabs seem phosphorescent

As he surveyed the landscape, there wasn&039;thad been prepped for winter, the beds of flowers quilted in ed, the pool now drained Stray leaves froe skipped across the rass, like they were homeless and in search of shelter

"John What the hell is going on?"

In the end, Xhex had not cohties were disorienting, and real life sure as shit didn&039;t cos

How did he explain himself? he wondered as he scrambled for words

Eventually, he pivoted around, brought up his hands, and signed, You were right

"About what?"

That would be everything, he thought as he started to sign

Last night, I watched Qhuinn go out into the suck zone - alone Wrath was doere scra; the Brotherhood hadn&039;t come yet as backup - bullets were everywhere The Band of Bastards had surrounded us, and ere running out of ti&039;s injury Qhuinn see, he kneas better off outside the house - he knew that if he could secure the garage, we et Wrath out And yeah, it nearly killed o out there He&039;s o

Xhex went over and slowly lowered herself into a chair "That&039;s why Wrath&039;s neck was all wrapped up and Qhuinn was"

He went up against Xcor, one-on-one, and gave Wrath the best shot at surviving John shook his head at her And again, I let hio out there because I knew he had to do what he could It was the right thing for the situation

John paced around, then parked it at the foot of the bed, bracing his palood fighter - he&039;s strong and decisive A heavy hitter And because he did what he did, Wrath lived - so yeah, Qhuinn was right, even though it was dangerous

He looked over at her You&039;re the same here We need that rifle to declare war on the Bastards - Wrath has to have the proof You&039;re a hunter who can go out in daylight - none of us can do that You also have your syht person for the job - even though the thought of you going anywhere near theht one to send out to wherever they are

There was a long pause "I don&039;t knohat to say"

He shrugged That&039;s why I didn&039;t explain anything to you beforehand I&039;, too At some point, it&039;s just hot air Action matters Proof matters

As she rubbed her face as if her head hurt, he frowned I thought this would reat" She got to her feet "I&039;ll do it Of course I will I&039;s for Trez, but I&039;ll start tonight"

John felt the pain receptors in his chest light up like a power grid - which told him how much he&039;d expected out of this olive branch

He&039;d hoped it would bring theether

A Ctrl-Alt-Delete that reset their systeet her eyes back on his

"Oh, it&039;s clear they already have If you don&039;t ht, she cleared her throat with a cough "Yeah, go talk to Wrath Tell him yes, I&039;m in"

As she went for the door, she appeared to be totally discombobulated, her ned - which did no good, because she&039;d turned away

He whistled again, then popped up off theout, he tapped her on the shoulder, because he didn&039;t want to offend her by grabbing at her

"John, just let o - "

He stepped in front of her and lost his breath Her eyes were gloith unshed red tears

What&039;s the ned desperately

She blinked fast, refusing to let anything fall to her cheeks "You think I&039; for joy because you aren&039;t bonded to me anymore?"

He recoiled so badly, he nearly fell over Excuse me?

"I didn&039;t know it could end, but in your case, clearly it has - "

Fuck that! He stamped his feet because he had tobonded with you! And this is both totally about us - because I want to be with you again - and totally not, because whether or not I aht person for the job!

She see but those quick lids of hersThen she crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him "Are you serious?"

Yes! He forced hiain God, yes fuck, yes everything I&039;ve got - yes

She glanced away Looked back After awith you"