“Make that three of us,” Tohrment said roughly.

Sarah felt her face get hot. “Like I said, I’m just glad my extrapolation worked out.”

There was conversation at that point, with John looking at Tohrment and signing, the other male smiling and saying that yes, John would be allowed out in the field as soon as he was medically cleared. Then Doc Jane and Manny talked about John’s test results, all of which were trending positively.

Sarah said some things back to everyone. She wasn’t sure exactly what came out of her mouth because it was hard to internalize all of the gratitude that continued to come her way. And then she was very aware of needing to depart before her composure cracked.

As she took her leave, she was also very aware that it was a goodbye instead of a see-you-later situation. But she wasn’t going to bring any of that up. They were all having a profoundly happy moment and there was no reason to darken it. Besides, she didn’t imagine they were going to miss her much after tonight, and no, she wasn’t being mopey. The reality was, she was an outsider, whereas they were family.

Back out in the corridor, she paused by the door to Nate’s room. He was staying in the training center until housing arrangements could be made, which was fine. But she was a little concerned that he didn’t seem to want to leave the four walls he’d been in since he’d arrived at the facility. It wasn’t like she didn’t get it. He had been kept in a small space his whole life in that lab. The room he was in now replicated that experience to some degree. He had to branch out, though.

“You can come in,” his voice said through the door.

She pushed the panel wide. “How did you know it was me?”

Nate touched the side of his nose. “Good sniffer.”

Sarah went over to the bed and took his hand. As she smoothed his big palm, she worried about him as if he were still the young boy she’d assumed he was when she first saw him in that cage.

“I’ll be okay,” he told her.

“The Brotherhood will take good care of you.” She’d just learned what they were all called. “You will not be alone.”

“I wish you could stay.”

“Me, too.”

The next thing she knew, she was giving him a hug.

“I’m scared,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t know how to be in the world …”

“You’re among friends.” She eased back and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’re stronger than you know. Trust me.”

There were tears on both sides as they fell into silence. And then she had no choice but to hug him one more time and leave.

Outside his room, she took a moment to pull herself together and she thought of something she had heard about friends. Some were in your life for a season. Some were in your life for a reason. And then there was, of course, the third grouping: The lifelong relationships that you carried through all seasons and all reasons.

Murhder stepped out from the room they’d shared.

He was dressed in surgical scrubs again, as was she, the default wardrobe doing absolutely nothing to conceal how well he was built, how tall he was … how strong his shoulders and heavy his thighs were. She was still having to get used to his short hair, but she found him as handsome as ever.

“Hi,” he said quietly. Like they hadn’t just parted twenty minutes before.

“Hi.”

They both opened their mouths to speak at the same time, but no words came out on either side. And then John’s door opened and Tohrment stepped out, pulling things shut behind himself.

Murhder threw up his hands. “Christ, I’m going, okay. I’m leaving and taking her with me, just like you want, so you can back off as we wait for the car—”

The Brother marched up to him and Sarah stepped back, intending to go for the medical staff when the fight broke out.

Damn it, this was not how she wanted to leave things.

As Tohr came at him like a tank, Murhder fell into his fighting stance. He couldn’t believe, after everything the last twenty-four hours had brought, that the Brother was going to run at him like this—in front of Sarah, right outside from where John was apparently surviving that infection, right next to Nate’s room—

The powerful arms that shot around him did not twist him into a choke hold. They didn’t throw him against the concrete wall. They weren’t a precursor to punches thrown.

Tohr embraced him, bringing him up against a body that was trembling so badly, it was a wonder the male could stand.

“My son …” the Brother said hoarsely. “Dearest Virgin Scribe, my son … you saved my son.”

The scent of the male’s tears was like the seashore had come into the underground training center, and as Tohr dropped his head on Murhder’s shoulder, the Brother wept openly.

Murhder slowly raised his hands and put them on the other male’s back. And then he was not just holding Tohr in return, but holding him up as he sagged.

“Your son is all right,” Murhder whispered. “Your son is going to be okay …”

The outpouring of the Brother’s relief was so extreme, it was hard to comprehend. But there was no reason to question its sincerity. And Murhder was more than willing to be patient with all the emotion. Even though he and Tohr had had their conflicts lately, how could you not give the guy a break?

Eventually, Tohr eased back. Stepped back. Scrubbed his face.

When he refocused on Murhder, he looked a thousand years old. “I lost one young. I lost … one son.” His voice cracked. “I couldn’t have withstood losing another. I know John was Darius’s by blood, but he’s mine in my heart.”

“Wait, he’s Darius’s son?”

“Yes.”

“God … no wonder.” He thought of the male emerging from the darkness in that alley … and how he had mistaken the son for the sire. “He fights like Darius did. And, ah, I didn’t know … I didn’t know that you and Wellsie …”

Tohr wiped his shirtsleeve over his eyes. “They killed my shellan. The lessers did. And she was pregnant with our son when they put their bullets into her body.”

The strangest feeling came over Murhder, a combination of ice-cold numbness and hellfire passion.

“Oh … shit. Tohr … I didn’t know.”

“John is the only living son I may ever have. That’s why … when I found you out with him in the field when he was injured as he was—that’s why I lost it. I’m sorry about that. My emotions got the best of me.”

Murhder reached out and put his hand on the warrior’s shoulder. “It’s all forgiven. I totally understand.”

Absently, he was aware that Xhex had joined them in the hall. No doubt the symphath had felt the disturbances outside John’s room, and now she was on the sidelines, watching everything.

Down at the far end of the corridor, by the parking area, the steel door opened and Fritz came in, his hoppy little stride as he approached them suggesting that he remained full of youth in spite of his deeply lined face. And his approach seemed to reset the emotions in the group, everyone reining themselves in.

“I have brought the car around for you, sire.” The butler smiled as he stopped in front of Murhder and bowed. “When you are ready.”