Page 48 (1/2)

The following evening, Marissa shook the hand of her new residence director The female was perfect for the position Smart Kind Soft of voice Trained in public health at NYU¡ªthe night school, of course

"When would you like ht sound?" Marissa replied wryly When she got an enthusiastic nod in response, she smiled a little "Great Why don&039;t I show you to your office"

When Marissa got back froned the director, she went to her laptop, logged in to Caldwell&039;sat some other properties for sale within the co before she saw nothing at all Butch was a constant pressure on her chest, an invisible weight that made it hard to breathe And if she wasn&039;t busy, memories of him consumed her

"Mistress?"

She looked up at Safe Place&039;s doggen "Yes, Phillipa?"

"Havers has referred a case to us The fe to be driven here to is stabilized, but the case history taken by the cli to be e-mailed over to you within the hour"

"Thank you Will you get a room ready for theen bowed and left

So, Havers was keeping his word, wasn&039;t he

Marissa frowned, that now perennial sense that she was e of Havers came to ht the shadowed thought to light

From out of nowhere, she heard her own voice when she&039;d been talking to Butch: I will not sit back and watch you destroy yourself

Good God The exact words her brother had said to her when he&039;d kicked her out of the house Oh, sweet Virgin Scribe, she was doing to Butch precisely what Havers had done to her: banishing hiuise of prudent disapproval Except wasn&039;t the point really about saving herself fro scared and out of control because she loved him?

But what about his death wish?

The sight of hiainst that lesser on the leahdyre&039;s front lawn came to her: Butch had been cautious in that situation Careful Not reckless And he&039;d

Oh hell, she thought What if she&039;d been wrong? What if Butch could fight? What if he should fight?

Except what about the Evil? The Oin had interceded to protect Butch And he had still been Butch after the Oa had vanished What if¡ª

A knock sounded and she jumped to her feet "My queen!"

Beth s a hand "Hi"

All tangled in her head, Marissa fell into a curtsy, which made Beth shake her head with a chuckle

"Aet you to cut that out?"

"Likely not It&039;s the burden of " Marissa tried to concentrate "Have you ah, have you come to see e&039;ve done here in the last¡ª"

Bella and Mary appeared behind the queen

"We want to talk with you," Beth said "It&039;s about Butch"

Butch stirred in his bed Cracked open an eye Cursed as he saw the clock He&039;d overslept, probably because of how hard he&039;d gone the night before Were three lessers too ¡ª

Oh, hell, no He was so not thinking of that Not re that

He rolled over onto his back¡ª

And jacked right off the ures in black hooded robes surrounded his bed

Wrath&039;s voice caoing back froht You shall be given it only once, and your ansill stand for the rest of the life you lead Are you prepared to be asked?"

The Brotherhood Holy Mary, Mother of God

"Yes," Butch breathed, grabbing his cross

"Then I shall say unto you now, Butch O&039;Neal descendant of mine own blood, and the blood of mine father, will you join us?"

Oh shit Was this real? A dreaures "Yes Yes, I will join you"

A black robe was thrown at hi the hood unto your head At all ti unless spoken to You shall keep your eyes on the ground Your hands shall be clasped at the small of your back Your bravery and the honor of the bloodline we share shall be measured in every action you take"

Butch stood up and pulled on the robe Wished briefly he could hit the bathroom¡ª

"You will be permitted to empty your body Do it now"

When Butch came out, he made sure his head was down and his hands were linked behind him

As a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, he kneas Rhage&039;s No one else&039;s palhed so much

"Come with us now," Wrath said

Butch was led out of the Pit and right into the Escalade, the SUV parked practically in the vestibule, as if they didn&039;t want anyone to knoas happening

After Butch slid into the back, the Escalade&039;s engine turned over and ressed through what he assu like they were heading over the back lawn and into the woods No one said a thing, and in the silence he couldn&039;t help wondering what the hell they were going to do to hi to be a cakewalk

Eventually the SUV stopped and everyone got out Trying to follow the rules, Butch stepped to the side and stared at the ground, waiting for someone to lead him Someone did while the Escalade was driven away

As Butch shuffled forward he was able to see ht was abruptly cut off and it became utterly dark Were they in a cave? Yes they were The smell of damp earth filled his nose and beneath his bare feet he could feel s bites out of his soles

Some forty steps later he was jerked to a stop There was a whispering sound and then , now on a doard slope Another stop More quiet noises as if a well-oiled gate was being retracted

Then warht A polished floor of , he had the sense that they were processing through soed place because what little sounds they made reverberated upward and echoed There was another pause, followed by lots of shifting of fabric the brothers disrobing, he thought

A hand clarowl of Wrath&039;s voice shot into his ear "You are unworthy to enter herein as you stand now Nod your head"

Butch nodded

"Say that you are unworthy"

"I am unworthy"

The Brotherhood&039;s voices suddenly let out a loud, hard shout in the Old Language, as if in protest

Wrath continued: "Though you are not worthy, you desire to becoht Nod your head"

He nodded

"Say that you wish to become worthy"

"I wish to becoe, this time a cheer of support

Wrath went on: "There is only one way to becoht and proper way Flesh of our flesh Nod your head"

He nodded

"Say that you wish to become flesh of our flesh"

"I wish to beco started up, and Butch had the impression that a line had for, they started tomotion led to get into the rhyth forward into what he suspected was Phury by the subtle scent of red s bumped from behind by what he kneas Vishous just because he knew Shit, he was ¡ª

And then it happened His body found the groove and he waswith the and the ht the voices, not thetheir feet forward

Suddenly, there was an acoustic explosion, the sounds of the chanting fracturing and re-for in a thousand different directions: They had entered a vast space

A hand on his shoulder told higed, the sounds ricocheting for a while, then floating away

He was taken by the arm and led forward

At his side, Vishous said in a low voice, "Stairs"

Butch stuot to a plateau, he was positioned by V, his body put wherever it needed to be As he settled into his stance, he had the sense he was right in front of soainst what seemed to be a wall

In the silence that followed, a bead of sweat dripped off his nose and landed right between his feet on the glossy floor