Billy-Ray's Demise

I legit cried when this happened in the book. Does anyone read titles? Eh.

Sanguine dove through the Black Cleaver and turned around to face the monstrosity, grinning. There was a gaping hole in it's tunic and it's insides were leaking fluid. Tanith lay a few feet in front of the undead Cleaver.

Sanguine and Tanith were alive. And the Black Cleaver was dead.

He had done it.

He had WON.

Sanguine hadn't had a fight like that in a long time.

He'd enjoyed it.

The Black Cleaver looked at the hole for a moment.

It's scythe was still in it's hand.

Sanguine still had a cocky grin plastered over his face when the Black Cleaver whipped around.

He was still grinning as the Black Cleaver turned around to face him. It simply watched him.

Billy-Ray frowned after a moment.

Why was the Black Cleaver's scythe on his other side?

And why was it dripping red blood?

When Sanguine began to choke, he figured it out pretty quickly.

He fell to his knees and clutched his throat, trying to stem the flow of blood.

His hands were like a rock in the rushing river that was emitting from his throat. They did nothing, except for split the flow.

Sanguine realised that he had never said goodbye to his ma, when he left Texas, almost 300 years ago. He didn't give a damn about his father.

But his ma...

He had been young, uncaring, and arrogant.

He was still young and arrogant, but Sanguine liked to think that his relationship with Tanith had made him more caring.

His Ma was most likely dead, Billy-Ray realised.

She had been 450 when he left, after all.

A tiny tear slipped down his cheek, almost too small to notice.

Sanguine was suddenly filled with over a centuries worth of regrets.

He shouldn't have become a hired killer.

He shouldn't have worked for the Baron.

He shouldn't have gotten tangled up with the Diablere.

He shouldn't have aided his father.

And most of all, he shouldn't have gotten tangled up with the Skeleton Detective and his partner.

In fact, the only thing he didn't regret doing over the last 8-ish years (Billy-Ray had lost count after he turned 100) was dating Tanith.

Then Sanguine remembered that he had dated a remnant possessed Tanith, which was in no way like the real Tanith. The real Tanith hated him. Which was understandable.

It looked like Sanguine DID regret everything.

Sanguine finally fell to the floor, a pool of blood growing with every passing second around his body. His sunglasses fell off his face, revealing the black holes of his eyes. His hands fell away from his throat, allowing Sanguine's blood to gush out uncontested.

Sanguine hadn't known that there had been this much blood in his entire body.

Using all of his willpower, he shifted his head slightly so he could see the only other living person in this room. Tanith looked at him. Her expression was unreadable.

There were currently only two living beings.

And Billy-Ray knew that it was about to drop down to one.

He needed to say something.

To Tanith.

An apology, perhaps.

She certainly deserved one.

The Texan wasn't going to beg for forgiveness from her.

That wasn't his style.

He didn't want to die, but even he knew that he was a goner at this point.

Billy-Ray Sanguine opened his mouth slightly to start speaking.

And Billy-Ray Sanguine died.

Billy-Ray Sanguine had still been holding his beloved straight razor as he slipped into the next realm.

His last thought was: It'll be alright now. Everything will be fine.

Just let go.