As Bran turned the doorknob and began to open it, I could see Tom standing in the hall."Hey Tom, " was Brandon's greeting. "What ya need?"Tom's eyes ...ooked at me and then at Brandon. They scanned Bran up and down, undeniably seeing the tent that was very evident to anyone in a 10-mile radius, so I KNOW that Tom saw it. Hell, saw it, he was staring at it! "Ah, just wanted to tell Bob that we were hitting the sack and for him to CUM in quiet," was Tom's reply with a bit of a snicker.I looked. Everything would be carefully ordered and choreographed, like every other function of the citadel. I failed to work up much enthusiasm for Teel's condition, wondering how much better things would be if left solely to chance.As we prepared to leave, Nella dropped a subtle hint that Tamar had a night patrol. Ten minutes later, she was naked on my bed. We made love once, slowly and tenderly. I had little energy for more. Afterwards, I spooned behind her and fell asleep.It was the middle of the. Now it was like I wassuddenly wearing a set of clothes that were not only a perfect fit, butwere also more comfortable than I'd ever been able to imagine clothesbeing.There was a decorative mirror hanging on the living room wall, so I wentstraight to it, pulling it off and using it to get a look at myself.What stared back was a beautiful and sexy looking face, though one thatcertainly wasn't quite human.Of course my skin was all red but that wasn't the only thing that wasodd. I had pointed. She'd screamed for a long time. Although, the fact that her abdomen no longer held most of her internal organs might have been the cause as well. There wasn't much time left in her, but it didn't matter.Kneeling down beside her, I ignored the reek of ruptured entrails and spoke to her softly. "I wish I had the power to heal your body so that you might endure this every night for every soul you've ever hurt. But I can't and I don't think your mind would stay whole through it all. Everything has.