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“Gods, Terry.” He combed his fingers through the dyed-blond hair. “If you and your leash-holder want me dead so badly, there has to be an easier way. There just has to be. Is the apocalypse proving to be overly dull, now that you’ve annihilated most of the world…?”

“I do not want youdead,brother.” Terian leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. “Ineverwanted that, Revi’. Never.”

When Revik looked over, the amber eyes were deadly serious.

“I do not want you dead, my brother,” Terian repeated. “Or your wife. Gods, Revi’! I want you to save me. I am begging for your help. I want you to take me from this place. You and your wife. I knew you would never come here just for me… but I want you to take me with you. Please, brother. I am asking you for this. I am begging, as I said.”

Revik stared at him, fighting to suppress another laugh?but more than that, fighting to suppress the puzzlement that coiled through his light at the other’s words.

Disbelief, too, but yeah, puzzlement.

He was puzzled because he believed him.

His logical mind told him he was nuts for believing him, that he was being played, that this was just another stupid game, but nothing in Revik’s light believed that, even when he tried to convince himself otherwise.

Terian looked afraid.

Hefeltafraid.

Whatever Revik sensed in those dark yellow eyes, or felt in the darting, erratic flickers of hisaleimi?it managed to disarm him. More than that, it brought an unwelcome swell of pity. He didn’t lose leave of his senses entirely, but the combination of feelings knocked him off balance for those few seconds, enough to make him wonder if the construct was fucking with him a hell of a lot more than he’d realized.

Sensing movement from someone other than Allie herself, Revik’s eyes shifted back towards the stage. The pain in his light worsened when he saw her down on all fours, her back arched. The aggression in his light ratcheted higher as seers got up from their seats to approach her as she crawled across the black surface.

He felt pain on more than a few of them.

He felt them wanting her, and fought to clear his mind of the irrational fury that coursed through him, erasing those few minutes of compassion he’d felt for Terian.

They would feel the pain on her, too.

They would feel it from the half-bond. They would feel her light react to Revik being here, to the connection that would inevitably spark. The very fact of him being so physically close had to be making it worse. She was on a damned stage, wearing next to nothing, exuding heated light?looking like she did, even with the contacts and the prosthetics covering her real beauty.

It wasn’t their fault. They thought it was part of the show.

They thought they weresupposedto react that way.

It was Terian’s fault, however.

“What did you tell her?” he said, before he knew he meant to speak. “To get her up there?”

Terian smiled, leaning deeper into the couch.

Revik turned, glaring. “What the fuck did you tell her, Terry?”

The other seer grunted, throwing up a hand. “What do you think I told her, Revi’? I told her the same thing I told you. That I would kill you. That I would have a sniper shoot you in the head as you walked into my club, as you undoubtedly would, sooner or later, looking for her. You are both so very predictable on that count, at least. It is the only way to motivate either of you to do anything. Or had you really not noticed that?”

Terian arranged his back in the couch, smiling.

“I told her to give it her all, too,” he added, giving him a broader wink. “That part was for you, brother. I thought you might as well enjoy yourself a bit.” Terian glanced at the stage. A tangible coil of pain left his light, tightening his expression. “I think she believed me, Revi’. Don’t you? You would surely know more than me. But her performance seems, well… quite authentic, does it not? Of course, I would not have been able to do this either, if the two of you were bonded like proper mates, and could sense?”

His words cut off.

Mostly because Revik had his hand around his throat.

He’d done it without thought, before he knew he intended to. Slamming the auburn head against the back of the couch, Revik squeezed hard enough that the other fought to breathe, his fingers wrapped around Revik’s.

Revik lowered his voice to a near-growl.

“Call off the fucking goons, Terry. Or this body is gone. You know I can do it. One hard snap, and it’s over. They won’t be fast enough.”