J.R. Ward the Black Dagger Brotherhood Novels 5-8 - J. R. Ward [106]
Except, of course, his performance was grossly below expectation.
He stopped. Let’s go back.
“Whatever you say, John.” Qhuinn’s mismatched eyes were impossibly kind. “Whatever you want to do.”
They headed back for the car, which was parked in an open-air lot about two blocks from the club. As they came around the corner, he noticed that the building next to the lot was being worked on, its construction zone battened down for the night, tarps flapping in the wind, heavy equipment sleeping soundly. To John, it seemed desolate.
Then again, he could have been bathed in sunshine in a field of daisies and all he would have seen was shadows. There was no way the night could have been worse. No. Way.
They were a good fifty yards from the car when the sweet smell of baby powder floated over on the breeze. And a lesser stepped out from behind a bucket loader.
Chapter Twenty-one
Phury came to but didn’t move. Which made sense, given the fact that one side of his face felt like it had been burned off. After a couple of deep breathers, he lifted a hand to the pounding ache. Bandages ran from his forehead to his jaw. He probably looked like an extra on the set of ER.
He sat up slowly and his whole head throbbed, like a bicycle pump had been shoved up his nose and someone was working that bitch with a strong arm.
Felt good.
Shifting his feet off the gurney, he pondered the law of gravity and debated whether he had the strength to deal with it. He decided to give it a shot, and what do you know, he managed to weave his way to the door.
Two pairs of eyes flipped over to him, one diamond bright, the other forest green.
“Hi,” he said.
V’s woman came up to him, and her stare was all doctor-scan. “God, I can’t believe how fast you heal. You shouldn’t even be conscious, much less upright.”
“Do you want to check your handiwork?” When she nodded, he sat down on a bench and she carefully peeled the tape back. As he winced, he looked around her at Vishous. “Did you tell Z about this yet?”
The brother shook his head. “Haven’t seen him, and Rhage tried his phone but it was off.”
“So, no news from Havers?”
“Not that I’ve heard. Although we’re about an hour before dawn, so they’d better be back soon.”
The doctor whistled under her breath. “It’s like I can see the skin knitting back together in front of my eyes. Mind if I put another gauze pack on?”
“Whatever you like.”
When she went back into the PT suite, V said, “Gotta talk to you, my man.”
“About?”
“I’m thinking you know.”
Shit. The lesser. And there was no playing dumb with a brother like V. Lying, however, remained an option. “Fight got tight.”
“Bullshit. You can’t be pulling moves like that.”
Phury thought back to a couple months before, when he’d become his twin for a time. Literally. “I’ve been worked over on one of their tables, V. I can assure you they are not concerned with warfare etiquette.”
“But you got cracked tonight because you were going Ginsu on that slayer’s ass. Weren’t you.”
Jane came back in with supplies. Thank God.
When she’d finished packing him up, he got to his feet. “I’m going to head to my room now.”
“You want help?” V asked in a hard tone. Like he was sucking back a whole lot of need-to-share.
“No. I know the way.”
“Well, since we have to go back anyway, let’s make this a field trip. And take it slow.”
Which was a damn good idea. His head was killing him.
They were halfway through the tunnel when Phury realized that the doctor wasn’t being watched or guarded. But, then, hell, she didn’t look as if she wanted to bolt. Matter of fact, she and V were walking side by side.
He wondered if either one of them was aware of how much they seemed like a couple.
When Phury got to the door that led into the big house, he said good-bye