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Butch walked across the bright blue ym, his destination a steel door on the far sidethe way, as he followed Wrath and V, he held on to Marissa&039;s cold hand He wanted to give her some kind of pep talk, but she was too s Botto to falsely reassure her was like training a floodlight on the free fall he was about to take
At the end of the mats, V unlocked the reinforced door and they filed into a jungle of workout gear and caged weapons, heading back to the physical therapy/first aid suite V let the on in a chorus of huht out of an episode of ER, all white tiles and glass-front stainless-steel cabinets filled with vials and medical supplies In the corner there was a whirlpool tub, a istered much Butch was primarily interested in the center of the rooe waiting for Shakespeare, there was a gurney with so over it And underneath a drain in the floor
He tried to ihts And felt like he was drowning
As Wrath shut the door, Marissa said in a flat voice, "We should be doing this at Havers&039;s clinic"
V shook his head "No offense, but I wouldn&039;t take Butch to your brother for a paper cut And the fewer people who know about this, the better" He went over to the gurney and checked that the brake was engaged "Besides, I&039;ood medic Butch, ditch the clothes and let&039;s do this"
Butch stripped to his boxers, his skin goose-bu about the temperature in this meat locker?"
"Yup" V walked over to the wall "We want it war to throw the air-conditioning on hard-core and you&039;ll love urney and popped his body up on the thing As a hiss and a rush of toasty air came fro her eyes briefly, she ca her hard Her tears were slow and silent, and when he tried to talk to her, she just shook her head
"Would you choose to be mated this day?"
Everyone in the rooure in black robes had appeared in the corner out of nowhere The Scribe Virgin
Butch&039;s heart jackhammered He&039;d seen her only once before, at Wrath and Beth&039;sceremony, and she was now as she had been then: a presence to respect and fear, power incarnate, a force of nature
Then he realized what she&039;d asked "I would, yes Marissa?"
Marissa&039;s hands went down as if she were about to pick up the skirting of a gown she wasn&039;t wearing Then she dropped her arrace As she held the pose, she said, "If it would not offend, ould be honored beyond measure to be joined by Your Holiness"
The Scribe Virgin ca the roo hand on Marissa&039;s bowed head, she said, "Such manners, child Your line has always had such perfect ht and lift thine eyes unto me" Marissa came out of the curtsy and looked up As she did, Butch could have sworn the Scribe Virgin sighed a little "Beautiful Just beautiful You are so exquisitely forin looked at Butch Though there was an opaque black veil over her face, the i Like he was standing in the path of an i strike
"What is your father&039;s name, human?"
"Eddie Edward O&039;Neal But if you don&039;thim into this, okay?"
Everyone in the room stiffened and V muttered, "Take it easy with the inquiry, cop Really easy"
"And why is that, huin asked The word human was pronounced like the phrase piece of shit
Butch shrugged "He&039;s nothing to me"
"Are humans always so dismissive of their lines?"
"My father and I have nothing to do with each other, that&039;s all"
"Therefore blood ties lancing over at Wrath Blood ties were everything
Butch looked back at the Scribe Virgin "Do you have any idea how relieved¡ª"
As Marissa gasped, V stepped in and slapped his gloved hand over Butch&039;sin his ear, "Do you want to get toasted here, buddy? No questions¡ª"
"Ease froin snapped "This I wish to hear"
V&039;s grip slid off his face "Watch it"
"Sorry about the question thing," Butch said to the black robes "But I just I&039;lad I knohat&039;s in rateful I finally knohat I am" He took Marissa&039;s hand "And who I love If this is wherelost, I&039;d say my ti silence Then the Scribe Virgin said, "Do you regret that you leave behind your human family?"
"Nope This is my family Here with me now and elsewhere in the co in the room told him he&039;d thrown another question out there "Yeah ah, sorry¡ª"
A soft feh came from under the robes "You are rather fearless, human"
"Or you could call it stupid" As Wrath&039;s mouth fell open, Butch rubbed his face "You know, I&039; here I really am You know, to be respectful"
"Your hand, human"
He offered her his left, the one that was free
"Palm up," Wrath barked
He flipped his hand over
"Tell in said, "if I asked for the one you hold this female with, would you offer it to me?"
"Yeah I&039;d just reach over to her with the other guy" As that little laugh caain, he said, "You know, you sound like birds when you do that chuckle thing It&039;s nice"
Over to the left, Vishous put his head in his hands
There was a long silence
Butch took a deep breath "Guess I&039;in reached up and slowly lifted the robes from her face
Jesus Christ Butch squeezed Marissa&039;s hand hard at as revealed
"You&039;re an angel," he whispered
Perfect lips lifted in a smile "No I am Myself"
"You&039;re beautiful"
"I know" Her voice becaht palm, Butch O&039;Neal, descended of Wrath son of Wrath"
Butch let go of Marissa, regripped her with his left hand, and reached forward When the Scribe Virgin touched hih his bones weren&039;t crushed, the awesorind hiin turned to Marissa "Child, give me yours now"
The instant that connection was made, a warm current flooded Butch&039;s body At first he assu syste, but then he realized the rush was under his skin
"Ah, yes This is a very good in pronounced "And you have ether" She dropped their hands and looked at Wrath "The presentation to me is complete If he lives, you shall finish the cere bowed his head "So be it"
The Scribe Virgin turned back to Butch "Noe shall see how strong you are"
"Wait," Butch said, thinking about the glyht? I ht?"
"Death wish," V said under his breath "Fucking Death Wish Boy we got over here"
The Scribe Virgin seemed flat-out amazed "I should kill you now"
"I&039; under that whole sehclusion thing I want her to be myso she doesn&039;t have to worry about anyone else leading her life"
"Huin snapped But then she smiled "And totally unrepentant, aren&039;t you"
"I don&039;t mean to be rude, I swear I just need to know she&039;s taken care of"
"Have you had use of her body? Have you taken her as a ht pink, Butch tucked her face into his shoulder "And it was you knoith love"
As he whispered soin see almost kind "Then she shall be as you say, your , and not fall under any provisions affecting unhed in relief and stroked Marissa&039;s back "Thank God"