Loyalty Or Honour (Book 3)

Chapter Eleven

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Ross opens the door at dawn to an impatient Orion. "The sun has barely risen and I have no assignments to carry out today. I thought I was going to get a nice lazy lie in this morning. Yet here you are at my door with your ugly face." Ross snarls, glaring.

"I am here for Hunter. Be a dame and go and get him for me." Orion says with a fake smile. Ross does not look impressed but stomps back into his home and knocks loudly on the door opposite. He receives no answer and pushes the door open. He expects to see a body in the bed but it is empty. It has most certainly been slept in from the mess of the sheets and a pillow on the floor. But the sleeper has clearly woken and has already left. Ross chuckles and goes back to the door where Orion still waits.

"The boy is no longer here. He must have woken incredibly early. The window is open so he may have escaped that way."

"You lost him?" Orion asks incredulously.

"He is neither an animal nor a child." Ross replies in a sweet voice before slamming the door in Orion's face. Orion breathes in deeply. This does nothing. He lets out the long intake of air. Again this does nothing to help him to stay calm. With gritted teeth he slams on the door and does not stop until Ross has once again opened the door. Ross gestures for Orion to enter. Orion glares at him.

"We need to go and find him."

"He is a grown man." Ross speaks slowly. "He managed to handle the majority of the Ricell situation on his own and we lost him a great many times there. That was before he knew of our existence. There is no point looking for him. Come in and wait for him to return."

"There are plenty of people around here who hate me. Have you considered that they may not be able to tell the difference between us?" Orion grinds out. Ross looks a little worried for a few seconds before he shrugs his shoulders.

"I am going back to sleep. You are welcome to wait for him or go searching for him. Your choice." Ross says before he turns and goes back upstairs. Orion steps in to the house and closes the door behind him. Despite wanting to go and search he knows that Ross is being wise in this situation. Hunter could have gone anywhere.

Orion goes into Hunter's room and sits in the chair in the corner of the room. His eyes begin to droop and he soon falls into a shallow sleep.

He does not wake when Hunter carefully climbs in through the window and stops dead when he sees the figure sprawled on the chair. A small trickle of blood runs down from his lip. He absentmindedly wipes it away. Hunter steps forward and the floorboards creak. Orion wakes instantly and his eyes spring open. He does not ask where Hunter has been, neither does he comment on the slightly guilty expression on his face. Instead he stands and stretches out his arms.

"Are you ready to meet our mother?" He finally asks, filling the quiet of the room. Hunter nods slowly. Orion exhales slowly and walks out, leading the way. Hunter again brushes away the blood and follows after him. They go down the windy cobbled streets until they stop outside a fairly large, well kept, building with flowers along the windows. Orion knocks on the door then steps within. Hunter stays frozen outside. It takes a few moments but Orion does notice the absence of his brother and emerges.

"Are they all in there?" Hunter asks his voice rough and a little shaky.

Orion presses his lips together momentarily. "This morning you will only meet our mother and the youngest. John has taken the two girls out to the market." Orion glances over his shoulder. "I really hate that I have to be the one to ask you this, now of all times; did you ever imagine this moment? Did you think of all the angry things that could spew from your mouth? Or did you imagine a perfect reunion where everyone was happy?"