Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #10)

by J.R. Ward

the last thing anyone needed was widespread confirmation that Dracula wasn’t a product of fiction, and the walking dead weren’t just a TV show that didn’t suck.

“My name’s Lassiter, and I’ll tell you all you need to know about me. I’m an angel first and a sinner second, and I’m not here for long. I’ll never hurt you, but I’m prepared to make you pretty goddamn uncomfortable if I have to, to get my job done. I like sunsets and long walks on the beach, but my perfect female no longer exists. Oh, and my favorite hobby is annoying the shit out of people. Guess I’m just bred to want to get a rise out of folks—probably the whole resurrection thing.”

Females, after all, were not just the fairer sex, but the fairly reasonable one. Which was the only reason the race had survived this long.

Life’s meant to be lived blind—that’s how you don’t take shit for granted.

He stomped his boot, creating a thunderous noise, and pointed… directly at Tohr. Awkward. Horrid. Silence. Kind of like he and Xhex had not only dragged their dirty laundry out in front of everyone, but he’d managed to drape their sweat socks and stained shirts all over Tohr’s head. In response? The Brother just crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, once.

he guessed that was what happened when you crossed paths with someone you were really compatible with. Felt like you’d been with them forever.

“I shall do it.” As No’One spoke up, the group of doggen she had sneaked in behind turned like a flock of birds,

On’one is finna give them a heart attack 💀💀💀

Courtesy of their tempers, both were now dressed in the Captain Asshole costume—which included, for no extra charge, the cape of disgrace, the booties of shame, and keys to the Fuck Up mobile.

She purred. Then again, that was what unspayed alley cats did, Xcor supposed.

😂😂

It was the very best that life had to offer anyone: a person to love and be loved by, with whom you carved meaning in the oak trunk of time’s perennial passing.

“I shall serve his blood needs, if he comes to me.” Lassiter bowed ever so slightly. “I’ll take care of that part. And I’m going to hold you to this.” “You shall not have to. My vow is my vow.”

For Assail was not behaving like an aristocrat. He was acting like a male who might be trying to build some kind of empire of his own.

Lifting his head, he let out a roar that stung even his own ears, and then he bit her again, his control snapping at the feast of his starved senses. The second bite was higher and closer to her jaw, and his sucking became even more intense, her nourishment speeding to the fibers of his muscles, strengthening him, restoring him, making him physically whole once more.

“If I can live through the events,” she said, “I can get through the memories.”

And turned around to face Xcor with a gun. “Do you honestly think I don’t know you’re watching me?”

“When the Brotherhood finds you, they will take you in and treat you—and you are going to find out where they live. You are going to tell them that I betrayed you and you want to fight with them.

You have twenty-four hours and then you and I shall reconvene—or the remains of your sweet sister are going to come to a disgraceful end.” Throe’s eyes popped wide in his pale face. “Yes, I have her.” Xcor leaned down even farther, until they were nose-to-nose. “I have had her with us all along. So I say unto you, do not forget where your allegiances lie.”

“I knew it was you,” he said softly. “The entire time… I knew it was you.” “And that was… okay, to use your expression?” He thought back to his mate. “You’re nothing like Wellsie was.” When he heard her clear her throat, he realized he’d spoken out loud. “No, what I mean is—” “You don’t have to explain.” Her sad smile was so full of compassion. “You truly don’t.”

Although, considering where Wellsie was, the idea that he had been looking for a way to stop the connection with No’One was craziness. He should be rejoicing at the idea he was thinking of another female. Instead, it still felt like a curse.

“Why are you looking at me like that.” “I want to fuck you. That’s why I went back home.”

“Was that your first kiss?” She blushed in the most lovely pink, her eyes dropping shyly to the carpet. “Yes.”

Directly after Syphon pulled the trigger on his long-range rifle, Xcor’s first thought was that the male may well have killed the king.

The good news is that as head of the B.o.B., he can be held accountable for his fighters’ actions—so as long as one of his soldiers was at the trigger of that rifle, we can nail him.”

He was back to the size he’d been when John had first met him, huge, hard, and strong. And come on, he hadn’t walked into a death trap of a gunfight or leaped off a bridge in, like, months.

A rumble of approval came up his throat. “That you are… Rosalhynda.”

“You’re like that. You’re beautiful and you burn brightly—and it’s time for you to come out. So I say… Autumn.”

“I love it. It’s perfect. I shall henceforth be known by the name you have given me, and the season of the year when the leaves burn—Autumn.”

Tohr fought the urge to slap some sense into the son of a bitch. His Wellsie’s future was at stake, and this dumb-ass was worried about Maury’s paternity tests? “Are you kidding me.”

This fallen soldier was simply different from the other two—and in fact, they did defer to him in subtle ways with their movements and their eyes. Indeed, this was not a male to toy with, but rather, like a bull, capable of crushing anything in its path.

But see, I’m already in it if we’re not together. After you were injured, I think… I think I had this idea that if I could just get you not to fight, then I’d be safe from what he’s going through—that I wouldn’t be exposed to that shit because you wouldn’t get stabbed or… yeah, worse. But come on, downtown Caldwell is not the safest place on the planet, and it’s not like you’re working around children with that job at Trez’s. More to the point, I’m all in with you—whether it’s old age, the number nineteen bus or a bullet from the enemy… anything happens to you and I’m fucked.

Assail’s car was parked down in the alley below, facing out. And she wasn’t the only one looking at it.… Holy… crap… Xcor was in the shadows, waiting for the male as well.

“Qhuinn… may I please ask you something?” “Long as it’s not multiplication tables. I suck at math.” She laughed a little, but quickly lost the levity.

I’ve got nothing of my own. Nothing. Even my service can be taken away from me. Layla was so right about that: Although everyone made him welcome here, the bottom line was, he was allowed to hang because he served a purpose for John, as ahstrux nohtrum.

“Don’t bother denying it—you tell me in your sleep every day. So let’s build a case. You clearly like to punish yourself. And you know damn well the only reason I’m with you is to get Wellsie out of the In Between. So don’t I just fit your pattern to a T—”

“I feel sorry for you. That’s where I’m at. Because you’re just a victim. You’re no one but a victim who likes to suffer. Even if I could fall in love with you, there’s nothing about you to get truly attached to. You’re just a ghost who’s not really here… any more than I am. And in our case, two wrongs do not make a right.”

The angel hauled back and cocked him so hard, he didn’t just see stars; he saw whole fucking galaxies of them.

THANK YOU!!! GOD I LOVE LASSITER

Mayhap she would be reincarnated as a ghost and could haunt him for the rest of his nights…

Layla😭😭😭 she’s so innocent

Layla was in her needing. Qhuinn was servicing her—

“Wellsie?” he called out. As her name drifted off into the limitless horizon, she did not look at him.

Her mate was a traditional kind of male, “old-school,” as he called himself, with all the biases that came with that mental set: Females should never pay for anything, open a door, pump gas into their cars, step through a mud puddle, carry something larger than what could fit in a sandwich bag… you name it. But he never got in the way of her job. Ever. That was the one area of her life where she called the shots, and he never complained about her hours, her workload, or her stress level.

Urgh, i love Butch too😫

“I bought these for her back in nineteen sixty-four. From Van Cleef and Arpels? It was supposed to be for our anniversary, but I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Wellsie wasn’t a big fan of jewelry—she liked art more. She always said that jewels were fussy.

She knew exactly who she was going to name the new wing after. Wellesandra had such a nice ring to it.

“There is one difference, my daughter. Your mate is in love with you—and at the end of the day, that means everything. Even if Tohrment lets his shellan go, he will never love me.” The good news is that this whole thing is going to give you a great excuse to torture yourself even longer. No, she thought. She was done with that. Time for a new paradigm.

Layla makes me want to cry 🥺

There came a time in everyone’s life when they realized that in spite of how hard they’d been running from themselves, everywhere they went, there they were: Addictions and compulsions were nothing but marching bands of distraction, masking truths that were unpleasant, but ultimately undeniable.

This definitely was, however, their inner sanctum,

“We’re ready to do her Fade ceremony, aren’t we, son.” John nodded. “When?” V asked. “Tomorrow night,

V had removed his glove and put his glowing forefinger up against the locking mechanism, acidic smoke rising from the contact in nasty curls of dark gray. “My prints tend to do the job on just about anything,” the Brother said. “Clearly,” Xhex murmured,

💀💀💀

“I love you.” She kissed him again. “I love you so much, my hellren.”

AWL I LOVE SOFT XHEX❤️‼️

“Just as the seasons come full circle, so have we. When we first crossed paths, it was all about me, my selfishness, my focus on a tragedy I had lived through. This time it was all about you, your selfishness, your tragedy that you had lived through.”

😮‍💨

“Halle-fucking-lujah!” As she let out a cry of alarm and Tohr unsheathed a black dagger, Lassiter stepped out into the middle of the room. The angel clapped a couple of times, and then held his palms up to the heavens like an evangelist. “Finally!”

🤣🤣