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It made me want to cry and I didn’t knohy I squeezed his hand "You really think Curran ait foranywhere He is all yours, so yes, he ait"

"But will hed

"What will happen when my father finds out I can’t hold my sword? Will he wait three years or will he burn the city to the ground because I can’t stop hiently

"But it does"

"You’ve reement only because I’m here to enforce it He knows that his power isn’t infinite In a fight to the death I will hurt hi him I can’t protect the city if I am not"

"It isn’t the time to worry about the city," Doolittle told me "This is the time to worry about you"

The silence stretched between us It wasn’t fair It wasn’t fair that after everything we had gone through, clai the city could cost me everyone I loved It wasn’t fair, but life rarely was Good people died Bad people had happy lives That hy someone had to take a stand, and that someone was me

"Curran loves me," I said "Nobody in my past loved me that much I see it in his eyes I want him to stay with me I want Julie to stay withto keepI stood for "But I aic when I was dying"

"Kate" Doolittle said gently "The technology has been up the whole ti that is alive, produces and stores est tech wave That’s why shapeshifters can still change their for in the boundaries of the land I claiic and offered it to me And I took it" My voice shook "I took it to survive"

Doolittle opened his ress that shouldn’t be there I’ in complete sentences" I leaned forward "I could’ve asked for more I could’ve taken it all to heal myself I could’ve drained all of you dry"

Doolittle’s eyes widened as the ht to savecreatures when hthouse Keepers, a terrorist organization obsessed with banishing ic, unleashed a device that did precisely that at Palot there, Palrave

Doolittle sed "Roland can’t be allowed to clai as I live I’ve assumed the responsibility for it I’ I don’t fully understand, but I know that this land didn’t sacrifice itsthe city and sending hordes of ghouls to do its dirty work It is iic, whichin common My father could’ve sent it here I have to stop it I can’t turnmy back on Curran, and Julie, and you I care too much about all of you Healhis eyes "Once I start, I will have to finish It will take a long ti surrounding the moment of your injury That I cannot heal"

"Thank you"

He sighed "Everyone has a cross to bear"

"A to decide if it’s a punishht as well bring him back At least we’ll both knoe’re in for from the start"

• • •

IT FELT LIKE hundreds of spiders crawling through my brain It ed on sorippedbucket forhi too far I still had standards Nauseated and weak, but what are you going to do?