a ragged mess. Jesus… if V was dead, not only would that kill each and
every one of the Brothers, but the cop had special problems. After he pulled that Dyson routine
with the slayers, V was the only thing that could get the evil out of him.
«Go on, Butch. It's too much exposure for you. Go on now.»
The cop walked off a couple yards and propped himself up against a parked car in the shadows.
When it looked like the guy was going to stay there, Phury went over and joined the hangers-on
at the edge of the yellow tape. Surveying the scene, the first thing he noticed were the residuals
from where a lesser had been offed. Fortunately, the police weren't paying attention to them.
They probably thought the glossy puddle was just oil spilled from a car and the scorched place
leftover from a homeless person's makeshift fire. No, the badges were concentrating on the
center of the scene, where Vishous had clearly lain in a pool of red blood.
Oh… God.
Phury glanced at the random human next to him. «What happened?»
The guy shrugged. «Gunshot. Some kind of fight.»
A young kid dressed in rave clothes spoke up, all hyped out, like this was the coolest thing ever.
«It was in the chest. I saw it happen, and I was the one who called nine-one-one.» He waved his
cell phone like it was a prize. «The police want me to stick around so they can interview me.»
Phury looked over at him. «What went down?»
«God, you wouldn't have believed it. It was right outta The World's Most Shocking Moments
Caught on Tape show. You know that show?»
«Yeah.» Phury checked out the buildings on either side of the alley. No windows. This was
probably the only witness. «So what happened?»
«Well, all's I was doing was walking down Trade. My friends ditched me at Screamer's and I got
no ride, you know? Anyway, I'm walking and I see this bright flash of light up ahead. It was like
a massive strobe thingy coming out of this alley. I walked a little faster, 'cause I wanted to see
what was going down, and that's when I heard the gunshot. It was like a pop sound. Actually, I
didn't even know it was a gunshot until I got here. You'd think it'd be louder-«
«When did you call nine-one-one?»
«Well, I waited a little bit, 'cause I figured someone would come running out of the alley and I
didn't want to be shot. But, like, no one came, so I figured they'd disappeared out some back way
or something. Then when I walked down here, I saw that there's no other way out. So maybe he
shot himself, you know?»
«What the guy look like?»
«The vic?» The kid leaned in. «Vic is what the police call the victim. I heard 'em.»
«Thanks for the clarification,» Phury muttered. «So what did he look like?»
«Dark hair. With a goatee. Lot of leather. I stood over him while I called nine-one-one. He was
bleeding, but alive.»
«You didn't see anyone else?»
«Nope. Just the one. So, like, I'm going to get interviewed by the police. Like, for real. Did I tell
you that?»
«Yeah, congratulations. You must be thrilled.» Man, Phury totally had to resist popping the kid a
fat lip.
«Hey, don't hate. This is cool stuff.»
«Not for the guy who got shot, it isn't.» Phury looked over the scene again. At least V wasn't in
lesser hands, and he hadn't been dead at the scene. Chances were the slayer had shot V first, but
the brother had still had enough strength to poof the bastard before passing out.
From the left, Phury heard a well-modulated voice: «This is Bethany Choi of the Channel Six
NewsLeader team reporting live from the scene of another downtown shooting. According to
police, the victim, Michael Klosnick-«
Michael Klosnick? Whatever, likely V had copped the lesser's ID and it had been found on him.
»-was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the
chest…»
Okay, this was going to be a long night: Vishous injured. In human hands. And they had only
four hours until daylight.
Rapid-evac time.
Phury dialed the compound while he walked back over to Butch. As the cell rang, he talked at
the cop. «He's alive at St. Francis with a gunshot.»
Butch sagged and said something that sound like, Praise God. «So we're going to get him out?»
«You got it.» Why wasn't Wrath picking up? Come on, Wrath… pick up. «Shit… those
goddamned surgeons must have gotten the surprise of their human lives when they opened him
up-Wrath? We've got a situation.»
Vishous came awake in an out-of-it body, becoming fully conscious, though he was
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