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"So that’s a no?"

Søren raised his eyebrow at her and she aluy She’d fallen in love with him already--utterly, couessed she’d end up liking hi of you, however, in exchange for my assistance"

"Do you always talk like this?"

"You mean articulately?"

"Yes"

"Yes"

"Weird So what price a? Hope it’s not my firstborn child Don’t want kids"

"My price is sie for my assistance, I only ask that you do what I tell you to do from now on"

"Do what you tell me to do?"

"Yes I want you to obey ?"

And he smiled then and she knew she should have been afraid but soht she felt safe

"Forever"

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty"

She heard a voice tinged with a French accent and tried to ignore it as she always tried to ignore French-accented voices The last thing Nora wanted to do ake up In her dream she ith Søren and he enty-nine and she fifteen and their story had only begun And she knew if she opened her eyes, she could very well be facing the end of their story She wanted to stay in her dream and would have stayed in it forever but for the cold, delicate fingers dancing across her face like spider legs

Nora opened her eyes

2

THE KING

Kingsley Edge stood in front of thehis wounds as he changed from his torn shirt into another The layers of marble-colored bruises Søren had left on hiether had already turned from red to black He could have hated the priest for the reht he feared would never be repeated Still, he cherished the bruises now as much as he did when they were boys at school Far uns, he wore thees of honor