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"Yes"

"Away fro" Charity’s body trely as a convulsion

"Charity, listen to me" Balthazar took her shoulders in his hands "This isn’t hoe should be living You know that, don’t you? Don’t you feel it, deep down?"

A tear trickled fro embers pinked her pale cheek "I do I kno it should be And I knoho took it fro Balthazar sprawling across the room until he landed flat on his back on the stone floor Charity stalked toward hiile hands balled into fists

"Come with you? Trust you?" Charity shook her head "Not you Never you!"

"Charity--"

She reached into the fire, pulling out a superheated pair of tongs that glowed red in the early ht onto her face, onto her unearthly smile "Get out Go away Or I’ll behead you myself"

"Come with me," Balthazar pleaded "Charity, please This is our best chance"

"You didn’t choose me!" she screamed, so loudly that he knew at least one of the vampires would wake

So Balthazar pushed hihtly around hihed into his boots, chilled hi away frorave, and Constantia, and the only life he’d known since his death

He still had no idea what kind of existence a monster like himself could expect

He knew only that he had to find it--and face it, alone

Chapter Seven

BALTHAZAR REACHED INTO THE INNER POCKET of his long coat, taking hold of the bone handle of the wide-bladed knife he’d put there This would do for a beheading if he got the chance

Not that it was likely Redgrave wouldn’t invade Skye’s ho less than full force Lorenzo, Constantia, and the rest of the crew he’d acquired since they’d last met--they would all be with him That meant Balthazar had to stick to the plan and put off his ulti he wanted rave pay for what he’d done to hiht Skye, her for so hard to be strong--

--because of what Redgrave was doing to Skye, too Because of every foul, selfish thing Redgrave had done these past four centuries It was uy’s head