Infinity Bell: A House Immortal Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

be reduced to nothing but their immortal brains, locked away conscious but alone for years.
    I couldn’t see Abraham risking himself and risking the other galvanized that way.
    I rubbed my hands over the cold shiver that ran down my arms. That kind of isolation would drive anyone mad.
    “Mr. Harris?” Gloria said as she helped Quinten out of the booth. “You’re next.”
    Quinten had always been an almost manic force of energy in my life. While he was capable of holding very still and being very quiet and thoughtful, when left to his own devices he defaulted to smiling, laughing, and going on long, muttering rants about things I never could understand.
    My brother was charismatic, caring, and brilliant, all of which had made him the de facto leader of House Brown.
    But the man who walked out of that booth was a shaken pale shell of the man in my memories. His eyes narrowed in pain as he pushed away Gloria’s concern, walked to the nearest chair, and eased himself into it.
    Left Ned took up a lungful of air and let it out quickly. “Faster, the better, Doc,” he said as he strode into the booth.
    “I’ll do my best,” she said.
    I walked over to Quinten. “Are you all right?”
    He sat with his forearms resting across his knees, white sleeves rolled up, as was his habit, his dark gray vest unbuttoned, his hair wet across his forehead. He laced his fingers together and hung his head, every line telegraphing exhaustion. “Yes,” he said, not very convincingly.
    “Can I get you anything? Water?” I put my hand on his sweat-dampened shoulder, and he put in the effort to tip his head up and squint at me.
    “I’ll be fine. It just . . . stings.”
    “You’re shaking.”
    “It stings a lot.”
    I rubbed his shoulder gently, wishing I could do more for him.
    I glanced over at Neds. The road maps and wires that spread out through his body were more compressed and knotted than Quinten’s.
    Gloria didn’t seem the least bit bothered by that. She tapped at an intersection of lines at the side of Left Ned’s neck, and that area grew larger. I didn’t know what she saw there, but it must have been what she was looking for. She pulled out a small instrument shaped like a cross between a pair of scissors and an oversized medical syringe and set it carefully against the screen. The lines and roads lit up, and Neds stiffened as if they’d just been shocked.
    Left Ned grunted through clenched teeth.
    She twisted the device, like she was twirling a fork in noodles, then yanked.
    Left Ned grunted again, and Right Ned sweated in sympathetic pain. That one bug did more than sting. And my brother had had four bugs removed.
    “Maybe you should lie down,” I said.
    “Maybe you shouldn’t worry so much,” he said.
    I made a face at him, and he managed a smile.
    “Just a moment longer while I look for any other bugs,” Gloria said softly as she manipulated the screen though several other settings.
    I didn’t know how we were going to get Abraham in there. He wasn’t conscious. He couldn’t stand. At least he wouldn’t feel the thing being removed.
    “That’s it,” she announced. “You are clean. You may step out, Mr. Harris.”
    She opened the screen and Neds walked out of the booth a lot more steady on their feet than Quinten. Left Ned threw me a glare, like this bug thing was my fault,but Right Ned just rolled his eyes, letting me know his brother was in a surly mood.
    “Now,” Gloria said, strolling over to me, “let’s have a look at your companion. I’ll need a set of hands.”
    Quinten pushed against his thighs, trying to stand, but didn’t make it.
    “I got it,” I said, pressing down on his shoulder. “Rest.” He didn’t argue, which was just another sign of how much the procedure had taken out of him.
    I walked over to the table where Abraham was lying. “Don’t know how we’re going to get him in the booth.”
    “We aren’t,” she said. “This won’t be as pleasant, but he’s