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THE QUEEN

"He? He who?" Nora asked

Darasped Nora by the upper arm and yanked her off the floor so hard he nearly dislocated her shoulder

"You get one guess"

Nora knew but she didn’t want to know, didn’t want to guess, didn’t want tothe honey her cuffed hands to her face "What’s she going to do to hi to leave that up to you" He pulled her into the hall and dragged her toward some destination unknown

"Up to hed, and the laugh was so cold and evil she would have clawed his eyes out if she could

He threw open the door to the library and Nora gasped at the sight before her

Søren knelt on the floor in the middle of the library Andrei stood at Søren’s back And from the serene look on Søren’s face, one would think he was a pious un to the back of his head

"Søren!" Nora wanted to scream his name but it came out hoarse and broken He opened his eyes and looked at her and she saw nothing in the gaze but love

She started to run to hi and writhing, she desperately tried to wrench herself frorasp

"Eleanor, calive the within her rebelled but she did as Søren told her and forced herself to stop struggling

"Dao," came Marie-Laure’s voice from behind them "She’s not the one whobut he released her As soon as his ar on her knees to get to Søren as fast as she could She raised her hands to his face, kissed his lips, leaned into him and breathed in the scent of him--winter even in su his face, his ?"

He gazed at her with new eyes, with eyes of alain, Little One I missed you"

"I missed you, too God, I missed you so much You shouldn’t have come"

"I had to"

"He didn’t have to," Marie-Laure said as she walked to them and started to circle them on the floor like a shark "I would have killed you and then disappeared again He loves you for whatever reason so I would have had all the vengeance I desired But thiskilling hi b--"

"Eleanor, look at me," Søren said, his voice calm but insistent She did as he told her There was no one else in the world she wanted to look at ainst his chest