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As Tohr stepped into the pitch-dark hallway outside of his rooel and then watched the guy walk off toward the glow at the second-floor balcony

Damn, his breath sounded loud in his ears And his heart rate was the same

Ironically, it had been just like this when he and Wellsie had been mated, his nervous systeical response was identical in this context proved the body was a one-notein the saood or bad

After a rand staircase, and it was good to feel all the syot mated, you went into it alone: You came up to your female with your heart in your throat and your love in your eyes, and you didn&039;t need anyone or anything else, because it was all about her

When you were perfor her Fade ceremony, on the other hand, you had to have your brothers with you, not just in the sahts on his hands and around his neck and the tie about his waist were all that were going to keep hi Especially when the pain caot to the head of the stairs, he felt the floor under his feet go into a wave, the great swell beneath hi needed it to stay in place

Down below, the foyer had been draped in vast bolts of white silk that fell fro, from the architectural features to the columns to the fixtures to the floors, was covered up All the electric lights had been turned off throughout thewith fires in the fireplaces made up for the deficit

Every reat space, the doggen, the shellans, the guests all dressed in white, according to tradition The Brotherhood had for with Phury first, as going to officiate, and then John, as going to be part of the ceree on the end

Wellsie was in the middle of it all, in her beautiful silver box, on a small table that had been draped in silk

So ht As if the snow had sneaked in fro in spite of the wars For the Fade ceremony, it was all about the opposite, the ht the dead would be subsumed in, as well as the intention of the community to someday join with the deceased in that sacred place

Tohr took one step, and then another, and then a third

As he descended, he looked at the upturned faces These were his people, and they had been Wellsie&039;s This was the co with, and the one she had left

Even in the sadness, it was hard not to feel blessed

There were so e, as now so much a part of the household

And yet Autu them; at least, not that he could see

Down at the botto stance before the urn, his hands clasped in front of his hips, his head lowered As he settled into his body, John joined hih he was pale, and his hands couldn&039;t seem to still

Tohr reached out and touched John&039;s forearh this together"

Instantly, the jerky movements stopped, and the boy nodded as if eased a little

In the tickinghow a crowd this size could be so quiet All he could hear was the crackle of the lit fires on either side of the foyer

Over to the left, Phury cleared his throat and bent down to a table over which a bolt of white silk had been draped With graceful hands, he lifted the cover to reveal a mammoth silver bowl filled with salt, a silver pitcher of water, and an ancient book

Picking up the toe "On this night, we co of Wellesandra, er Brother Tohrhter of Relix; adoptive ht, we co of the nascent Tohrer Brother Tohrment, son of Hharm; blooded son of the beloved departed Wellesandra; adopted brother of the soldier Tehrror, son of Darius"

Phury turned the page, the heavy parch to tradition, and in hopes it will be both pleasing to the Mother of the race&039;s ears, and of solace to the bereaved family, I call upon all who tarry herein to pray with e of those who have passed unto the Fade"

So many voices rose up as Phury commanded sentences and had theether such that the words were lost to Tohr and all he heard was the pattern of solanced over at John Lot of blinking going on, but the boy was holding back the tears like thehis eyes back to the urn, and gave his es from all different parts of their shared lives

His re he had done for her before she&039;d been killed: put those chains on the tires of that SUV So she&039;d have traction in the snow

Okay, noas blinking like a motherfucker

The ceres when pro silent the rest of the ti to do it He didn&039;t think it would have been possible to get through all this at any other lanced over at Lassiter The angel was glowing froht around and within hi it back tenfold

For souy didn&039;t look happy His broere squeezed together as if he were trying to crunch nu up with a sum total he didn&039;t like -

"I would now ask the Brotherhood to pledge their condolences to the bereaved, starting with His Majesty Wrath, son of Wrath"

Tohr decided he was seeing things and refocused on his Brothers As Phury stepped away from the little table, Wrath was discreetly led forward by V so that he was standing over the bowl of salt Drawing up the sleeve of his robe, the king unholstered one of his black daggers and drew the blade up the inside of his forearht red blood rushed to the surface of the cut, the male extended his arm and let drops fall

Each one of the Brothers did the sa on Tohr&039;s as they reaffir for all he had lost

Phury was the last, with Z holding the book as he completed the ritual Then the Primale picked up the pitcher and spoke sacred words as he poured water fro the pink-stained salt into brine

"I would now ask Wellesandra&039;s hellren to disrobe"

Tohr was careful to take out Nalla&039;s pal the Chosen&039;s sash, and he put both down on top of the robe after he&039;d removed it

"I would now ask Wellesandra&039;s hellren to kneel before her for one last ti to his knees in front of the urn In his peripheral vision, he watched Phury walk over to the ht From out of the flames, the brother withdrew a priht over froo, one that had beenbefore the race had had a collective me and at least an inch wide, and the line of Old Language sylowed yellow, not red

Tohr assu his hands into fists and easing forward so that his knuckles were planted on the heavier white cover that had been laid on the floor For a split second, all he could think about was the mosaic depiction of the apple tree that was underneath hi to associate only with death

He had buried Autuood-bye to Wellsie on top of one

As Phury stopped beside to hian to co open

When you were ot your shellan&039;s name carved in your back, you were supposed to bear the pain in silence - to prove that you orthy of both her love and the

Breath Breath Breath

Not so with the Fade ceremony

Breath-breath-breath

For the Fade ceremony, you were supposed to -

Breathbreathbreath -

"What is the name of your dead?" Phury deiant pull of oxygen

As the brand was laid to the skin where her nao, Tohr screamed her name, every ounce of pain in his heart and histhrough the foyer