Page 23 of Brush with Death
He placed himself between Cyril and the autopsy technician so that she wouldn’t be able to see what Cyril was doing.Vale leaned forward as if eager to talk to Sam.He would be if Cyril succeeded, but not for the reasons the autopsy technician would expect.
Cyril sucked in a breath and looked down at Sam.He’d known Sam when he was alive, something that didn’t usually happen.It was hard for him to see Sam like this, with his eyes closed, his skin so pale it had turned white, unmoving.It made him want to cry, but instead, he wrapped his fingers around Sam’s wrist and closed his eyes.
He could feel Sam’s soul.He welcomed it, and it came to him easily, but when he tried to pull it back into Sam’s body, he couldn’t.It was like there was a block between the soul and body.
That block was Cyril, unfortunately.
He tried until his head started to hurt.Vale gently touched the back of Cyril’s hand, causing Cyril to open his eyes.“It’s not working, is it?”Vale asked gently.
“No.I can feel Sam’s soul, but I can’t place him back into his body even for one second.”
“Well, it’s not a surprise.You can try again in a few days.”
“You’ll let me?”
“I don’tletyou do anything, Cyril.If you want to, you can stay here and continue trying for the rest of the day.I don’t want you to be in pain, but I’ll stand by and wait for you if that’s what you really want.”
Cyril let go of Sam and took a step back.“I won’t be of any use if I spend the rest of the day in bed because of a headache.”He looked down at Sam.“Sorry for this, but I’ll be back.”He wasn’t sure if Sam could make sense of his words, but he felt better saying them.Hewouldbe back, and somehow, he’d reanimate Sam and would find out what had happened to him and who had hurt him.
Chapter Eight
––––––––
VALE KEPT AN EYE ONCyril as they left the morgue.He’d suspected that Cyril wouldn’t be able to reanimate Sam because it was too soon after his injury, but he’d known that his boyfriend would never forgive himself if he didn’t try.Vale wished Cyril hadn’t.He was even more worried and sad than he’d been when they’d arrived, and he had nothing to show for it.
He wrapped an arm around Cyril’s shoulders as soon as they were outside.Cyril came easily, pressing against Vale’s side and allowing him to kiss his forehead.
“You guys are so cute together,” a man said.
Vale glanced up, ready to tell whomever it was to fuck off and not bother Cyril.He froze only for a second when he found John Smith standing a few feet away from them.His body knew what to do even as he wondered what the fuck John was doing there.He stepped in front of Cyril and pushed him back so he could easily defend him if John tried anything.
John frowned.“Why do you act as if I’m going to try to kill your boyfriend?”
Vale couldn’t start a fight because they were in a public space, but it was a near thing.He wanted to slam John against the closest wall, then shake him to get answers.Instead, he stayed where he was in front of Cyril.
“What are you doing here?”he asked.“Are you stalking us?Are you stalkingCyril?”
John shook his head.“I’m not stalking anyone.”
Vale didn’t believe him.He quickly glanced around, making sure no one would notice them.The parking lot was empty, and while it probably wouldn’t stay that way, it gave Vale a few minutes.
He lunged forward and grabbed John’s t-shirt.He gave John a shake, then did as he’d wanted earlier and slammed him against the wall.
John squeaked, but he didn’t try to push Vale away.Maybe he wasn’t as stupid as he looked.He knew that Vale wouldn’t allow him to go anywhere until he had answers, and between the two of them, it was easy to know who would win in a fight.Vale was bigger and had more experience.He’d killed countless people, while John was struggling.
“Vale,” Cyril said as a hand landed on Vale’s arm.
Vale didn’t look at his boyfriend.“I just want to know what he’s doing here.”
“You can find out without hurting him.”
“Hurting him would make me happy.”
Cyril snorted.“You sound like Russell right now.”
That wasn’t something Vale wanted, so he let go of John.John smoothed down his shirt, then nodded at Cyril.“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank him yet.I still want to know what the fuck you’re doing here.Why are you following us?”
