Page 37 (2/2)

"You know, human, if you learned some manners, you would fare ith me"

"If I proh what&039;s coin&039;s head fell back as she laughed in a loud burst "No, I will not help you But I findyou very well, hulared at Wrath, as s his head "Do not assume such leeith etiquette applies to others who seek rin "I am well aware of what is proper, as are my brothers"

"Good" The robes shifted back into place, lifting up and going over her head without the help of hands Just before her face was covered, she said, "You ish to bring the queen to this rooin disappeared

Vishous whistled between his teeth and wiped his broith his forearm "Butch, man, you are so lucky she liked you, true?"

Wrath flipped open his cell phone and started dialing "Shit, I thought ere going to lose you before we even started¡ªBeth? Hey, rabbed a stainless-steel tray stand and wheeled it over to a cabinet As he started putting things in sterile wraps on top, Butch shifted his legs around and stretched out on the gurney

He stared up at Marissa "Things don&039;t work out, I&039;ll wait for you in the Fade," he said, not because he believed it but because he wanted to reassure her

She bent down and kissed hiainst his until V quietly cleared his throat As Marissa stepped back, she began to speak in the Old Language, a soft rush of desperate words, a prayer that was ht the tray stand up to the gurney, then went to Butch&039;s feet As the brotherin his hand, but he wasn&039;t shohat it was, keeping his arht There was a metallic clank and the far end of the table tilted up In the heat of the room, Butch felt the blood rush to his head

"You ready?" V asked

Butch stared at Marissa "I feel like this is happening so fast, all of a sudden"

The door opened and Beth walked in She said a soft hello and went to Wrath, who put his arlanced back at Marissa, whose prayers had increased in speed until they were a blur of words "I love you," he said Then he looked at V "Do it"

Vishous lifted his hand There was a scalpel in it, and before Butch could track the movement, the blade cut into one of his wrists deeply Twice Blood welled, a bright, glistening red, and he grew nauseous as he watched it drip down his forear cuts were made in his other wrist

"Oh Jesus" As his heart rate shot through the roof, the blood ran faster

Fear came on him hard and he had to open his mouth so he could breathe

Off in the distance, he heard voices, but he couldn&039;t track the As reality warped and twisted, his eyes latched on to Marissa&039;s face and pale blue eyes and white-blond hair

He did his best to s the panic so he didn&039;t scare her "It&039;s okay," he said "It&039;s okay it&039;s okay, I&039;rabbed his ankles and he jerked in surprise but it was just Wrath And the king held him as V tilted the table even more so the blood ran out even faster Then Vishous caently eased Butch&039;s ar down Closer to the drain

"V?" Butch said "Don&039;t leave, okay?"

"Never" V brushed Butch&039;s hair back with a gesture so tender it was out of place cohtening On sole, but V leaned on his shoulders, keeping hiht here with you Just relax if you can"

Ti, wasn&039;t it? People kept talking to him, but Marissa&039;s uneven voice was all he really heard though as she was praying, he didn&039;t knohat she was saying

He lifted his head and looked down, but he couldn&039;t see his wrists anymore to track as¡ª

All of a sudden he started to shiver uncontrollably "I&039;m c-cold"

V nodded "I know Beth, turn the heat up so helpless "I&039; c-colder"

Her prayers stopped "Can you feel my hand on your arine it all over your body I&039;ainst ainst you"

He smiled He liked that

But then his eyes fluttered, the sight of her flickering like she was a movie on a screen, and the projector was broken

"Cold turn heat up" His skin prickled all over His stomach felt like a lead balloon His heart see anymore

"Cold" His teeth chattered, so very loud in his ears, but then he couldn&039;t hear anything "Love you"

Marissa watched as the pool of Butch&039;s brilliant red blood grew bigger and bigger around the drain until she was standing in sooing paper white He didn&039;t see anymore

V came forith a stethoscope and put it on Butch&039;s chest "He&039;s close now Beth, get over here I need you" He handed the stethoscope to the queen "You listen to that heart of his I want you to tellfor ten seconds or more" He pointed at the clock on the wall "Track it by that third hand up there Marissa, you coet busy"

When she hesitated, V shook his head "We need soo to work You&039;re still going to be with him, you can talk to him from there"

She leaned down, kissed Butch&039;s lips and told hi over the job of keeping Butch&039;s heavy body frourney onto the floor

"Butch?" she said "I&039;ht here, nallum Can you feel ht here"

She kept talking to hi to happen next Especially when Vishous brought over the cardiac crash cart

"You ready, Wrath?" the Brother asked

"Where you want ht here next to his chest" Vishous picked up a long, thin, sterile pack and ripped it open The needle inside was about six inches in length and see with that heart rate, Beth?"

"Slowing down God, it&039;s so faint"

"Marissa? I&039;et quiet so she can hear better, okay?"

Marissa shut herin her head

In the minutes that passed, they beca that moved in the room was his blood as it dripped out of those deep wounds in his wrists and flowed down the drain The soft glug, glug, glug in the floor made Marissa want to screa," Beth whispered

"Here&039;s what&039;s going to happen," Vishous said, looking back and forth across Butch&039;s body "When Beth gives ht While I work on Wrath, I want you two to seal up Butch&039;s wrists Seconds count You need to close those wounds quick, we clear?"

They both nodded

"Slower," Beth said Her dark blue eyes narrowed on the clock and she lifted a hand to press one of the stethoscope&039;s earpieces in tighter "Slower"

Seconds suddenly stretched out into infinity, and Marissa flipped into some kind of autopilot, her fear and panic buried under a powerful focus that came out of nowhere

Beth frowned Bent down closer, as if that would help "Now!"

V set the table to level and Marissa ran around to one of Butch&039;s wrists as Beth dropped to the other one While they sucked the wounds closed, V shoved that thick needle right into the crook of Wrath&039;s arm

"Everyone back away," V barked when he withdrew it frorip on the syringe so he was holding it in his fist and leaned over Butch With hurried ertips Then he slaht into Butch&039;s heart

Marissa stuht her Wrath

V extracted the syringe and tossed it on the table Then he picked up the paddles of the crash cart and there was a juicing-up noise from the machine

"Clear!" V shouted And slapped the metal pads on Butch&039;s chest

Butch&039;s torso jerked and V put his fingers to the ain

Marissa sagged in Wrath&039;s arms as Vishous threw the paddles onto the crash cart, pinched Butch&039;s nostrils, and blew into his mouth twice Then the Brother started chest cos bared as if he were pissed off at Butch

Whose skin was now turning gray

" three four five"

As V continued to count, Marissa struggled free "Butch? Butch don&039;t leave stay with us Stay with me"

" nine ten" V pulled back, bleo breaths into Butch&039;s er to the ed

V went for the stethoscope Moved the disk around, searching "Nothing Fuck"