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o P
er blade piercing my heart
roat, but no sound came
ed and clawed at my chest, expecting
was no
silk nightgown and skin that w
ulent, draped in shadows and moonlight.This
storm, the sharp, clean smell of ozone, and something else. Someth
mind. Conrad Vanderbilt
his hand gentle on my cheek. His soft voice, telling me i
like a piece of meat to the most powerful, most fear
longer useful, he had stood by and watched as hi
o my palms that the sharp sting of pain was a welcome anchor
s al
been r
bedroom. Back on the night it all
across the room swung
from the hallway behind it. He stepped into the room, and the moonlight caugh
Vanderb
o my thoughts, this one familiar
erything alright? Rem
ted to scream at him, to tell him I kn
I di
chest down to a cold, hard ember. I would not b
e silk sheets away and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The nig
m see the stillness in them, the
pped. His brow furrowed in a flicker of conf
out of me, I saw him. He had been there, fighting the ones who killed me.
me the strength
raw from a scream that
thi
a curse or a plea, hung
flickered, replaced by a flicker of stunned surprise
nearby table and poured a glass of water. His movements were stiff, u
and held the
p my arm. My whole body went rigid. I saw his hand flinch, his knuckles white as he g
my lips and drank, the cool water a balm on my parched throat.
one, that my revenge started here. It started wit
glass and lo
id, my voice a li
my head again, laced with i
ne could see. In my mind, I pictured a door, and
le
gaze, my own cal
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