Page 40 of Snow Blind

"Well, how did that end?"

"He came home to a place without me," Helen said. "I didn't bother to take anything other than what I was wearing. I changed my number, quit my job, and moved to another city. Lashonda, people don't like feeling beholden. If he wants to stay with you after he heals, let it be up to him."

"Hmmp," was all Lashonda said as sirens wailed in the background. Silence stayed in the vehicle as they returned to the home where Bryan waited patiently for their return.

He looked at Helen's face, then at Passion Fruit's. A nod was all he gave as he hobbled his way to the room where he stayed. He'd made a friend in Candy the Cane Corso, who followed along with him, sleeping at his feet.

"Well, the dog likes him," Helen said, bidding Passion Fruit goodnight.

In the other room, Lashonda Temple sent the information ahead to her handler that the job had been done. However, there was additional information that needed to be shared with Azrael. She called, not wanting to say what was next.

On the call, she explained everything that had happened. Bryan being at her cabin, discovering who he was, and the arrival of her father. Passion Fruit explained the connection between Bryan and Kurtzwilde, adding to the information dump of her father being the Imperial in the Chrysalis. Further, she went on to explain her father's cryptic warning of Cranberry needing to take a seat for a while. Reluctantly, the last two parts she didn't want to say, but needed to put out in the universe.

"My father listed his other bastard children, all which are Technicians, including the one in Georgia, Elm, Thunder, and Morgan," she said.

"Noted, and we are aware," Azreal said. "Anything else?"

"Cranberry needs a break," she told their boss. "We had to do some things tonight that mentally may be fucking with her head. The holidays are coming up, so let her head home and come back after the New Year. If she decides not to come back, then you also have an answer and resolution of her fitness to handle the tough work."

"How tough?"

"Burning off fingerprints, removing teeth, dressing a dead man, then setting him on fire," Passion Fruit said.

"Well, that would fuck with my head too," Azreal commented. "And the man?"

"Who? Bryan?"

"No, Paul Bunyan! What do you need?"

"A new life package," Passion Fruit stated. "He had a book deal, so can we work some magic, clean his accounts, and move them to the new name? He's still broken up, his face is bandaged, and he's going to be nothing to look at for a long time, but he deserves to at least get a chance to work on his book."

Azreal didn’t like this, but she appreciated the humanity in Passion fruit coming through, "You going soft on me?"

"There is nothing soft about me, not even my hair.Maracuyaout," she said, ending the call.

Helen needed to go home for a while. Passion Fruit also needed time to figure out a path forward with the man. There weren't many men she was comfortable to be around, and she liked Bryan. Secretly, she hoped he wanted to stay with her, but chances were slim.

"All we can do is hope someone else is tired of being lonely too," she said, whistling for Candy the Cane Corso to follow her to the bedroom. She was calling it a night.

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