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“Perhaps when he awakes he’ll be able to provide more insight into who they were.”

“As I said, it may be some time before he wakes. But for now we know who two of them are — their bodies are in the morgue. We are gathering information on those they associated with and once reinforcements arrive, they’ll be brought in for questioning. The other two are surely injured and would be easy to identify, but we’ve not had any luck finding them yet.”

Bart’s brows lowered as he considered the fact they hadn’t been able to find two that were so injured it would be evident. “Do you think they’re being hidden?”

“I do,” Quin said. “And add to that the fact that Au'revele valiantly fought whoever Alexandrus’ attacker was, they should equally be able to be identified. But again, we’ve not been able to locate anyone bearing evidence of physical marks on their faces or bodies.”

“Because they’re being hidden,” Bart said.

“Possibly. In some form or fashion.”

“Have you spoken to Mirilla?” Bart finally asked.

“Not personally. Have you?” Quin asked almost accusatorily.

Bart glowered at him momentarily. “Are you insinuating something, Quin? Is there something you want to say?”

“Not, yet. I’m gathering information before I make any formal statements,” he said, looking Bart directly in the eye as he bit aggressively into another slice of meat before tunning away to rinse his hands. When he was done, he looked at Bart expectantly.

“What?” Bart asked, his hands lifted in exasperation. “What are you expecting from me?”

“Do you have anything you’d like to add?” Quin asked.

“Yeah, whatever you think that I’ve done, I haven’t.”

“I don’t think you’ve done a single thing, intentionally.”

“Intentionally?” Bart asked, his irritation growing by the second.

“I don’t believe for a moment that you wish ill upon Vivian, Alexandrus, or even me. You’re family. However, the fact that you made poor decisions about security in my home, that exposed my mate and my child to nefarious behavior cannot be ignored.”

“I had nothing to do with the attempted assault of Alexandrus. At all!” Bart said defensively.

“Other than let your need for a female overrule your intelligence, no I suppose you didn’t.”

Bart glared at Quin angrily. “Are you saying I let my dick overrule my common sense?” Bart demanded.

Quin flashed him a cold smile. “And now we are on the same page.” He walked past Bart, bumping him on the way past, not caring that Bart had not moved enough to accommodate his attempt to leave the kitchen.

Quin walked out into the living room to find Vivian awake and standing just a few feet away, holding Alexandrus in her arms as she listened to the interaction between himself and Bart. He met her gaze for a second before he smiled at her and went directly to her to take her and Alexandrus in his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, Ehlealah.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, you were finally resting and I should have been more thoughtful. We should have taken our conversation outside.”

“You know Bart didn’t do anything on purpose. He’d never harm any one of us,” she said, looking up at her mate.

“I know. I said as much.”

“Then why are you still angry with him?” Vivian asked.

“Because he should have done better. It is never okay to bypass security measures regardless of who it’s for. That alone is what put you both in more danger than was necessary. It gave those who sought it an easy entrance into our home.”

“But, Quin…” Vivian started, willing to defend her great-nephew regardless of the truth of Quin’s words. Bart and Samuel were all she had left on her side of the family, and she’d defend them regardless.

“No, he’s right, Vivian,” Bart said.

“But, Bart…” Vivian said, prepared to launch into peacekeeper mode.

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