Page 114 of Wild Bliss

How the fuck was he supposed to…

Breathe.

It was the first thing Alexei Markov had taught him.

Breath is essential. It’s a safe space for us to go towhen the world overwhelms us. Breathing recenters our focus. Allows us to calmthe central nervous system.

Four seconds in. Hold for six. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.Six. Exhale for eight.

And again.

“Good. Keep it up,” Henry whispered. “But I’m going to needyou on the floor like you’re still passed out. Someone’s coming. We’re out oftime. Please stay calm, Wyatt.”

He didn’t want to. He wanted to let the psychotic assholewho lived inside him out so he didn’t have to deal with this. The psycho didn’tcare about anything but his own survival.

Except the psycho loved Sabrina, too. The psycho wasfighting because she needed him.

He dropped to his knees. Breathing. One. Two. Three. Four.Hold. The part of himself that fought and fought had been essential when he’dbeen alone. When he was the only one fighting, the piece of himself that wantedso badly to survive came out to protect him. He wasn’t some enemy to fight. Hewas part of Wyatt, and the piece of himself had figured out he wasn’t aloneanymore and he had to be the best partner he could be.

Exhale for eight.

He heard the door open, and the light got flipped on. Whenthe door opened the music blasted through the small space, and he could hearthe raucous party. His brother thought he could get away with all of thisbecause no one would come for him. Because in his brother’s mind he was uselessand weak, and so were all the people in the town down below the mountain. Theywouldn’t care what went on up here because Wayne never once gave a shit abouthis neighbors. He was treating Bliss like it was a Horde world and everyonelived in it.

Wyatt had learned the citizens of Bliss made their ownrules.

Another breath and he let his whole body go limp. He wasvulnerable but it was okay because he trusted Henry Flanders and his apparentlydeadly hands. Shit. He was putting his and Sabrina’s and Sawyer’s lives intothe hands of a man who spent most of his time with a baby strapped to hischest. And sometimes he wore socks with the Birkenstocks. Breathe.

“Hey, Bru, it’s time to bring the…”

He heard a snap and then a big body fell to the floor besidehim. Wyatt flipped over in time to miss his brother’s now dead enforcer fallingon him. But that asshole hadn’t come alone. Wyatt got a great view of Murphystanding in front of Henry Flanders.

“You’re not Brutus,” Murphy said, a sneer on his face. Hepointed a gun Henry’s way. “Who the fuck are you?”

Henry didn’t reply, merely knocked the gun to the side andbrought the heel of his palm up, striking Murphy’s nose. Another crunch soundedthrough the space and then Murphy too slid to the floor, his eyes glazing over.

“What the fuck was that?” Wyatt got to his feet. Theyprobably had a couple of minutes. They would expect Murphy to wake him up.Probably why the other guy had been carrying a cattle prod.

“I broke his nose in such a way it sent cartilage into hisbrain and killed him,” Henry explained matter of factly. “But see, no blood.Cleaning blood requires an enormous amount of water and cleaners, and somepeople use bleach which is going to end up in the ground water. But this way,no mess. Earth friendly.”

He wasn’t about to debate which type of killing was best forclimate change. He did, however, pick up the cattle prod the asshole hadexpected to use on him.

“Oh, you should totally get the gun,” Henry explained,shrugging out of the vest like he didn’t need it anymore. He was willing toshow his true face to Wyatt’s brother. He pointed to Murphy’s body. “He’s gottwo on him. You might pick up the other one and give it to Sawyer if you can. Iknow he can shoot, and I don’t think Sabrina cares how he kills the people whoare after him.”

He wasn’t wrong. “The cattle prod is for Sabrina. I’m notsure if I’m going to give it to her so she can defend herself or use it on herbecause she shouldn’t be here and she knows it.”

Let Henry do with that what he would. Wyatt had a few darksecrets, too.

“I think cattle prod is pretty advanced. Sabrina is probablystill getting used to spankings. You should start out with a violet wand if youwant to try electricity play,” Henry replied as though he’d been talking aboutsomething perfectly normal.

Such a weird place, and he wanted it for his home.

“Could we stop talking about my sister’s sex life and getthis party started?” a familiar voice asked. Elisa stood in the doorway,staring down the hall, though she spoke to Wyatt and Henry. “I took out thejammer. Nate knows where we are, and he’s on his way. I sent Sid and Gil up tothe roof, but they’re super worried about Lark. She stayed so they had a chanceto get to the office.”

“How far behind is Nate?” Henry asked, flexing his hands asthough readying them for battle.

“He’s ten minutes out,” Elisa replied.

“It’s too long.” Wyatt knew his brother. “We can’t take downthe Horde with a couple of guns and Henry’s hands.”

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