"Enjoying your rest from work, Hollem?" Lady Lelynn said as she calmly walked into the room, her cane thumping unpleasantly loudly on the worn wooden floor. 

She had found out where they had worked the day after he'd been stabbed. To his surprise, she'd come with the magistrate and his lover, curious and eager to see how they would be taught by him and Amia. It had been a bit ugly, from what he'd been told. He was almost thankful that he'd already been unconscious from his injuries to actually see it.  

He was just opening his mouth to reply in a cautious manner when a giant dog padded into the room. The moment it saw him its ears pulled back and its upper lip lifted in warning. 

"Um, whose dog is that?" Hollem whispered as he tried to shift back in the bed a bit further. 

The thing was absolutely massive with a wiry coat and silvery dark fur. 

Lady Lelynn glanced at the dog and nodded, patting it on the head with her free hand. 

"His name is Kite, and I am baby sitting him. He was dropped off a few days ago." Lady Lelynn said with a smile, as if the dog couldn't easily take down every single person in the brothel without even trying. 

"That can't be a dog." Hollem said simply, still in awe of its massive size... and its massive teeth. 

Lady Lelynn chuckled. "He is a wolfhound, and he is not very fond of men." She said, her voice almost sounding excited about that little bit of information. 

"I see..." Hollem said as he glanced behind her toward the door, praying that someone would come take the crazy old woman and giant dog away. 

His prayers were thankfully answered, somewhat, before he could be eaten by the beast. The doctor who had been looking after him walked in, nodding to Lady Lelynn before giving the dog a wary look. 

"If you wouldn't mind, madam, I need to speak with Hollem." He said, gesturing toward the door. 

Kite growled loudly at his movement, making the man freeze in place until Lady Lelynn huffed and sauntered toward the door, only calling for Kite to follow after she was nearly out of sight. The moment the dog was gone the doctor walked to the door and shut it, allowing Hollem to breathe a little easier without that giant monstrosity staring daggers at him. 

"How are you feeling, Hollem?" The doctor asked as he began checking him. 

Hollem pursed his lips, but the doctor spoke before he could. 

"No, I will not clear you yet. You are obviously still in pain, since your breathing stutters slightly when you inhale. You got very lucky and the weapon missed your heart, but you still need to rest." He said as he straightened back up, earning a scowl. 

"I know you want to go be the hero, but the magistrate has already gathered enough evidence to start pushing your friend's uncle. Be patient, he'll be returned to you." He said, only making Hollem angrier. 

When he didn't respond, the doctor sighed and gathered his things, then left the room, shutting the door behind himself quietly. 

Left alone, Hollem leaned back against his mound of pillows and sighed up at the ceiling. He'd been waiting for days, since he'd first woken up, to hear about Amia being freed from his uncle's captivity. 

"What is taking so long? He is an older man with a few men, and Matilda, helping him. Surely it cannot be so hard to get Amia back to me." He said quietly, blinking away from his thoughts as the door opened again. 

"Abel?" He said as he straightened again, scooting back to try his best to sit up. 

He couldn't argue with the doctor, his chest did still definitely hurt. 

"How are things going? What's happened?" He asked, needing to hear something about the situation. 

When Abel offered him a calm smile and walked over to sit on the edge of his bed, Hollem relaxed slightly. 

"We just got a permit finalized by the local authorities to help search the premises and will be bringing Lady Lelynn along, since she's the only one who can control that giant dog, Kite. He can sniff out anyone, anywhere, and he's not the nicest so he wouldn't mind starting, or finishing, a fight." Abel said with a mischievous grin. 

Hollem couldn't hold back his smile at the young lad's words. "You really will go find him tonight? He must be there, since you have had people watching his estate since he took him, right?" He asked. 

He knew that they hadn't known right away that it was him, but it had been obvious enough, thank heavens, for the magistrate to post people to watch the property at all hours. 

Abel nodded. "Just wait here. We'll bring him back." He said as he stood up, making Hollem try to stand as well, but fail miserably. 

Lowering himself back down to the blankets, Hollem blew out a frustrated breath, earning a quiet chuckle from Abel. 

"Don't worry. Kirin is already getting ready. I should go help out." Abel said before leaning down to give him a careful hug. 

"I promise, we'll bring him back. Just rest up, because I'm sure he'll want all of your energy the moment he sees you again." Abel said with a faint laugh before finally turning and jogging out of the room. 

Looking over his shoulder at the only small window in his entire room, Hollem pushed himself to the edge of the bed, using all of his effort to swing his legs aver its edge. The movements left him panting, but as he lifted his head, he could see torchlight flickering from below the sill. 

Get up. He told himself as he reached for the small nightstand and slowly began trying to shift his weight to his cold feet. It took several minutes, and he nearly fell twice, before he could look down on the large group of people gathered just outside of the brothel. Just seeing so many willing to help save a literal whore made his heart swell. People often looked down on those who chose his profession, even if they used them from time to time. 

We're people, too, and Amia doesn't deserve anything he's been put through. He deserves to be at home in my arms, happy, warm, and always with a full stomach. 

A movement beneath him caught his attention, drawing his eyes to Kirin. The man was staring up at him in his official law enforcement uniform. Abel was beside him, staring between him and Hollem, though he knew that the lad was having trouble keeping his hungry eyes off of his lover. Next to them, Lady Lelynn stood with her arms crossed, her cane missing, but a shovel was leaning against her side. Kite panted beside her, nearly reaching her shoulders in height. 

She noticed where their attention was at and lifted her gaze to meet his. He could see the disapproval there, but he also saw the fire that burned in her sharp eyes. 

There's a demon living in that old woman... and I almost feel bad for whoever ends up trying to threaten her. If Kite didn't end them in seconds, she'd likely have that shovel shoved halfway down their throats before they could even consider that an old grandma could even lift such an item, let alone use it as a valid weapon. Probably would castrate them for fun, too.

Feeling his body begin to give out after a few more moments of standing, Hollem gave the group a nod and hesitant smile, then carefully lowered himself back down to the bed he would likely be bound to for several more days. It hurt to not be able to go help, but he knew that he'd be absolutely useless. 

Probably can't even get down the stairs in one piece yet. He thought as he got comfortable and allowed his head to drop back down to the pillows. 

"Don't worry, Hollem. I'm sending Lauriette with them." 

Hollem's attention jerked toward the door at hearing the madam's words. He tried to get up again, but had no energy left for the task. 

"Get some rest. We have a plan... as well as a few back up ones. Don't worry. They'll bring back your overactive addict." She said with a smirk. 

Hollem gave a weak laugh. 

"You mean overactive sex addict?" He corrected, only for her to shake her head and step back out of the door, ready to shut it. 

"No. I mean what I said. That boy only sees you now. You're all he wants and I know that he's been told that you were killed, or at least severely hurt, so get better faster, because I know that he'll be all over you the second he realizes that you'll be just fine with a bit more time." She said, making him smile and blink back tears. 

"Now sleep, you fool. Perhaps your lad will be here when you wake up... or he'll do the waking." She said with a wink before turning and slowly closing the door, leaving him to his much-needed rest. 

(I think Amia wants the next PoV...)