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. I made a call, had it taken care ofbefore we got here. Carl s heart sank with the man s words.Hope looked to be dwindling thecloser they got to nightfall. The Archer 375Abigail RouxShawn disappeared just as quietly as he had come, and after a tense silence,Thiago followed after the man him. How is he? Carl asked Brandt as soon as he was sure the others were outof earshot. If Dixie doesn t show&. Brandt sighed and let his shoulders slump as hesat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. If Dixie doesn t show, we ll haveto& I dunno& he won t make it, Trigger.He ll get careless.And he ll get himselfkilled. IV. SHAWN? Wait, Thiago called softly as Shawn mounted the stairs.Shawn kept moving though.He didn t want another of Thiago s talks.Thiago had been pissed at him, and rightly so.If he d simply stood down whenThiago told him to, Remy would still be with them.But fucking hell, didn t the manthink he was suffering enough without the weekly lectures? Shawn! I m just going to lay down, Shawn mumbled morosely as he reached thetop of the staircase and took a left toward the master bedroom.He stopped short andstared at the hallway in horror.Thiago caught up to him, and almost ran into him, asShawn stood frozen in the middle of the narrow hall. What s wrong? Shawn? Thiago asked as he gripped Shawn s shoulder andshook him slightly, trying to lean around him and get a look at his face. Autopilot, Shawn mumbled as he tried to back away from the masterbedroom.Thiago stood behind him like a brick wall and wouldn t let him goanywhere. What? Shawn& what are you&. That was the bedroom he and Remy shared when they were betweenmissions.That was the direction his body always went when he climbed these stairs.That was where his feet always took him.To Remy. I was on autopilot, Shawn murmured as he tried to get away from thefamiliar territory.Shawn could smell him.Remy s scent lingered in the rooms he d inhabited.He could hear the easy laughter and feel the smile against his face.Remy waseverywhere, and yet Shawn couldn t touch him.Couldn t speak to him and hear hisvoice, save for in his memories.Shawn tried to back away again, and Thiago wrappedhis arms around Shawn s shoulders and held him close. I can t go in there, Shawn finally croaked. Please, don t make me. 376 The ArcherAbigail RouxThiago pressed into him and growled wordlessly. Goddammit, Shawn, gethold of yourself and be a fucking man! Thiago ordered angrily as he shoved Shawntoward the bedroom.Shawn saw red as memories and pain invaded his senses, and when hecalmed once more he was holding Thiago backward over the railing of the stairs.Thiago s feet didn t touch the ground and he balanced on the one-hundred-year-oldrailing, gripping Shawn s clutching hands and staring at him with wide blue eyes. Fuck you, mate! Shawn yelled as his hands tightened around Thiago sneck.If he hadn t been trying to strangle him, Thiago would already have dropped.The chandelier hanging in the stairwell swayed from the force of their movementsand Shawn growled wordlessly as he tried to decide how best to kill the man.Drop orstrangle; oh, the choices this business forced him to make. You re not the only one who lost him, Shawn, Thiago managed to say asShawn tried to choke the life out of him.Shawn s hands loosened their grip as he realized just what it was he wasdoing, and Thiago scrambled for something to grab onto as he started to fallbackward.Shawn cried out in alarm and grabbed the falling man by the shoulders,pulling him back over the railing and falling back against the wall with Thiagoclasped tightly in his arms. Boludo, Thiago panted as he rested his head against Shawn s shoulder. Sorry, Shawn mumbled as he looked at the railing warily, as if it had hadsomething to do with Thiago s near-demise. I can t go in there, Thi, Shawnwhispered with a sideways glance at the bedroom. He s in there.I can t face himyet. Okay, Thiago agreed hoarsely.Neither of them moved for long seconds,they simply breathed heavily and stared at the railing accusingly together. What did you want to talk to me about? Shawn finally asked with dread.The least he could do was listen to a lecture after almost killing the man. I wanted to see if you were okay, Thiago said as he rolled to his knees andstood up shakily.He looked down at Shawn and offered him a hand.Shawn took itand let Thiago help him up, unable to meet the Argentinean s piercing blue eyes. M okay, Shawn mumbled with another glance at the master bedroom.Heedged sideways away from it, and Thiago seemed to take pity on him and stepped intohis line of vision. We ve got about five hours before we even need to do a dry run, he toldShawn gently. Why don t you show me around? What about the other bedrooms?You can nap in there. Shawn nodded and shuffled his way down the hall toward the other threebedrooms.He realized with some chagrin that he d never been in any of these rooms. The Archer 377Abigail RouxAt least that meant no memories would assault him here
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