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“There was onenothing of the spring green wood shot with golden light “The one in charge” Blindfolded, the sole thing she’d been able to sense of hiliness of his presence “He taunted ht be able to convince hi up, she’d , because her voice had been the only weapon she’d had “As he walked out the first day, he slapped ” She’d been stunned by the unexpected blow, the inside of her cheek bleeding into her ht’ve been an entire day” She’d spent it nad and bound on the concrete floor, tethered to aset into the concrete

Furious in her deter to free just one of her hands, had even made the conscious choice to try to break her wrist But the restraints had been too tight, too well constructed

“The next tiized, loosened the tension in the chains after he hungto drink” She’d gulped it with focused greed, aware she’d need every advantage if she was going to survive this “He wanted to condition rateful to hih the coical warfare course at the Acadeht find herself a hostage

Even that iven the duration of her captivity, but she’d also grown up across thirty different foster hoood; ht her one thing—always, always look beneath the surface for a person’s true face “I don’t kno many days he took that tack I lost my sense of time fairly quickly”

Since her prison could only be reached by an internal staircase, she hadn’t even been able to count on a burst of light when the door opened, to orient herself “I tried to play along, but he figured out I washim” She forced herself to tell Dmitri the rest It was the first time she’d spoken of the ordeal to anyone, and that it was D to be him

“He fed from me, from my throat His handhe touched entleness of his touchit no less a violation “Afterward, he whispered to me that he knew he’d been my first” That, too, was true She’d always had a revulsion against allowing anyone to feed fro abhorrence of the act, inexplicable in its intensity “I think that’s why he chose lacial, “and the patience to carry it through Put that together with his knowledge of the appetites of Valeria, To vaer would find it difficult to gain their trust”

“Yes” His pragmatic manner ot that impression from his speech—it was modern for the most part, but he’d occasionally use old-fashioned words or phrasing”

“How did he dress?”

Honor’s gut clenched as her ainst her, his aroused bodywhat little food she’d had rise into her throat “Double-breasted suits” She could still feel the buttons cutting into her skin

“That would seem to eliminate several of the old ones froard them just yet”

“Yes, he’s clever, could’ve altered his nor a therress over the trees “The house where they foundproject about an hour out of Stamford”

“I read the file”

She shifted to face hie in those dark eyes burning with black fla in the breeze that whipped through the trees, exposing the brutal lines of a face of such sensual beauty, she understood how an angel had hungered to possess hiel had hurt hie form in Honor’s soul, so deep it was as if it had been a part of her since the moment of her birth

“I need to return to Manhattan,” D to head back in the direction of the clearing where the chopper waited He looked beyond remote at that moment, a man who followed no rules but his own But he waited for her at the edge of the wood, shortened his stride tothat meant she had any kind of a claim on him Whatever it was that drew theile, al but that; a man who had been formed in rivers of blood

Yet once he’d lived in a s from the land A simple life, but one for which he had turned down the offers of an angel renowned for her beauty Most men would have accepted such an invitation, if only for the novelty of it Perhaps he’d been too proud to be an angel’s fleeting playthingor perhaps his heart had already belonged to another

A shihtness

However, she sed the question on the tip of her tongue—about the woht an intimate cadence to his voice the one and only tiht time or place to ask, but because whatever the answer, it could be nothing good Not when Dmitri walked alone “Any word on the tattoo?” she asked instead

“The three ardless of the surface intricacy, it was an amateur job”

“Damn” It would make the doer so ht be loyal to Isis?”

“Her na to face her, he stopped in the shade of a tree with al leaves, the area around them relatively clear “Whoever it is that seeks to resurrect her, he’s kept his intentions secret”