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Double-Edged Blade

"Charlotte!"

Sarah was the first one to rush toward her, wrapping her s theth it was hard for Charlotte to breathe Apparently no one took any heed to her warning Hadn&039;t she said she didn&039;t want to be followed?

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Charlotte didn&039;t quite kno to respond The immediate ansas yes, he had And she couldn&039;t believe that either The line betas good and as evil was slowly becoht would happen to her in the care of her Va reality All of her worst night their way out of her psyche This time, it had been Valek&039;s own jealoushilanced up fro for an answer, but she fell short of what to say She glanced back toward the clearing Nikolai was there at the edge, carefully hiding in a shadoith Ears perched on his shoulder The young man stared back at her, fear clearly splashed on his face Maybe he really had done so to provoke Valek Instantly, her lass houses

"Nikolai," Charlotte called out to hi-toward her Froue, dark for there like a stone statue He flinched when she called out for the other boy

"What exactly did you do?" she asked breathlessly as he finally got to her at the edge of the forest It became harder to breathe Her inhalations broke in dry sobs, and she couldn&039;t deter or if the panic had begun to set in, that Valekthe Elves feared he was She said a silent prayer that Nikolai would confess he&039;d really done so to provoke Valek&039;s actions

The boy&039;s face contorted into panic "You can&039;t trust him, Charlotte I know you think you know him but you don&039;t! Soo They spoke to me They told me I had to find you before he did" He blinked nervously, shifting his eyes away fro Iwas only pulling up the covers"

So pricked at the corner of Charlotte&039;s intuition and told her that probably wasn&039;t all he&039;d done What was he talking about? The Parliament? Why would they seek someone like Nikolai? There&039;d been a weird che What did he know that she didn&039;t? And she knew Valek too well, anyway Thereelse that provoked him He would never fall that far into desperation on his own, no matter what kind of monster he was or was not Awful, dark memories flashed of her days spent in the house, locked in the roohtly over the painful visions

"Listen" Nikolai spoke softly, pulling her out of her reverie "I don&039;t knohat Valek is to you exactly, but it doesn&039;t seem to me like you&039;re in such a healthy situation"

Ears landed softly on his shoulder, as if in agreee if she were in a healthy situation or not? She frowned at hi her lip, apparently fighting back whether or not to voice her own agreeain, and coht She didn&039;t want to hear what they had to say

Her boots packed the wet snow beneath her, her teeth snapping annoyingly against each other in shivering, chattering fits of nerves and frost She knew this rather brash decision ht cause her to catch her death quicker But as the point when she was already dying? She just needed to be alone with her thoughts for a row up densely around her

Hugging Valek&039;s coat tighter around her shoulders, she pushed on, her breath forer recognized Valek It see ain, she barely recognized theto see weeks ago

"I&039;m so sorry," a voice hing, and spun to see his tall, crooked shadow loolacier blue of the impossible color of his eyes-the only detail on his face Charlotte could h the frosty darkness

"Here"

The lovely velvet voice atteht where she stood Her eyes rolled back in her head as he moved close to her Her blood warmed under her skin and pooled in her face Maybe it was the fury Maybe it was because she still so desperately needed him to be close to her Suddenly, a hand the color and tehtly on her shoulder Her eyes fluttered open to find Valek bent slightly in front of her as if someone had punched him in the sto trees Tall, slightly crooked, beautiful and ageless, though hundreds of years old Varound Even as he touched her, she&039;d never felt so separate froeline Not when he&039;d allowed the coven to ration her as though she were nothing but food Not ever Again, she felt tears pool in the corners of her eyes Oh, don&039;t cry, she thought to herself, not now She squared her shoulders, blinking up at hiht escape She fought to remain a wall of stone in front of him

"What?" she snapped, with her fists wound

"Charlotte, please I don&039;t knohat is happening to us" His normally solid voice was cracked and desperate She blinked at him, not used to the desolate sound "I a right throughwasn&039;t at all the sa see him in so many pieces before "It seemed like you didn&039;t want to be near rowled the last word, his bright blue eyes sinking a few shades darker

"Because he didn&039;t leave me, Valek!" Charlotte wailed Surprised by her own tenacity, as she gauged his reaction When he didn&039;t speak, words continued to launch themselves like arrows "He never hurt me!" Valek closed his eyes "He&039;s neutral territory He&039;s safe You&039;re not safe, Valek As far back as I can remember, you&039;ve never been safe fornow No matter howshe could do to dam them up "You&039;ve always been a threat toclose to you is like surviving a battle forthe next blade before it slashes my throat I can&039;t do this anymore" She wanted to drop to her knees, but steadily she held herself up Her breathing was ragged as she leaned against her own exasperation The last place she wanted to be was in his arms-no, maybe that was the first place she wanted to be There was no deciding Her head was spinning

Valek stepped back, clearly reeling from her ultra-candid ad back, Charlotte," he whispered, aggrieved His eyes stayed slanted and guarded

Was he actually angry with her for finally speaking herher words cut hier was she supposed to keep this charade up-the charade that she was fine with being tossed around like a rag doll? Surviving one attack before co another, then back up for another breath By now, she was absolutely enervated, sick of drowning Her body racked with the notion that Sarah&039;sDone La, she shook her head at his back fro at a fresh set of tears fro weak in front of hi the helpless da to manifest some sort of power from theaze scathed her, his skin looking s of his long hair Her dark angel had fallen very far, it seemed Her heart quickened in her chest as she , blue stare, unable to peel her eyes away froo if she didn&039;t want to be with hi would she even survive if she wasn&039;t under his constant care? Her h she held her stance

"May I touch you?" he asked abruptly, causing her breath to hitch in her throat

She glanced down at his claavering apprehensively at his sides She struggled with the thought of theiveness seemed to be a country away Mo she stayed staring at hiht about his request Valek shifted on his feet, and she could see he was growing uncomfortable as he waited for her answer

"Please," he choked out

She blinked, her voice cracking "I&039;ht now" She answered honestly, blinking back the fresh wave of tears that was for Guilt and bile mixed in her throat as she spoke, the taste thick and sour How could she ad to throw herself at hiely, however, she&039;d never felt stronger

Valek straightened hi her hat she was sure was h the pain that bubbled just behind his stony façade was apparent "Allow me this one opportunity for retribution, Charlotte, and then I&039;ll let you make your decision You can either stay with o with hi the others to fend for themselves? "What about Sarah, and the others?" Charlotte&039;s voice broke

"I&039;ll allow them tocertain people to think for the about freedom, so here it is"

"Valek" The muscles in her throat clenched as she said his name "Nikolai is just a friend I barely know his for me have altered I can sense that, no , so I bla you to explore otheropportunities"

Charlotte only nodded, unsure of what else to say

She watched h the shallow hills and valleys of the fresh snow Though his boots sank deep into the trenches of it, he failed to waver She ground her teeth together, knowing that unless Valek ever changed hisher one of thee of envy twinged through her less-than-capable extre to tell her for so many years Predator and prey In thatpredator, she finally understood She shouldn&039;t have ever survived that first night when he&039;d found her He should have ended it there She couldn&039;t fight the thought, in this moment, that her entire existence had been a rate under the strong, ers, he lifted his hand to caress her cheek She didn&039;tdown her back His light graze trailed down her damp face to the line of her jaw, to the colu, he retracted his touch and waited expectantly So did she To her utter shock, she didn&039;t feel much except for the undeniable chill Was it siht was going to happen? She stood in front of hi her head to one side, her mouth went dry with the words she had for him Her lower lip twitched with the promise of fresh tears

Valek must have heard her mind, because he took another step back frouished "So, this is it" He shrugged casually, though his face carried an expression of utter panic "I have absolutely ruined you"

A string of red slipped frorilected to bat the tear away Charlotte could not bring herself to lift the weight of her arms to embrace him, for they seemed heavier than lead The love she knew still existed was buried so deep below her surface, encased by Lusian&039;s control, Aiden&039;s jealousy, and most importantly, Valek&039;s carelessness She was as nuh her heart clenched to see him this way, she just couldn&039;t s I&039;ve let happen, and this is the consequence," he ly

"It just see her gaze to her knotted fingers Touching her-what did he think that was going to prove? It wouldn&039;t undo the da no prisoners Who was this girl controlling her mouth and movements? She was positively stunned by her callousness Stunned, but not yet totally sorry for it She needed, finally, to be strong for herself

"Lottie, I can&039;t begin to explain myself If I ever do find that mirror, I&039;m not even sure I&039;ll be able to peer into its reflection because I loathe myself so cooing after theto continue histo save her? Even after she&039;d refused hiht "Charlotte, I understand your hatred towardhappen to you" He looked positively wounded "My feelings are unchanging I told you that"

"I don&039;t hate you" She spoke calculatedly to the ground beneath her She couldn&039;t look at hiht cause her to fall to pieces and dith

"Charlotte!"

She and Valek turned to see Edwin racing in on the back of Mr T&345;inozka, pained and worried expressions painting both of their faces Nikolai and Sarah quickly followed behind on the backs of Beta and Jiri Could none of theive her a moment&039;s peace, just to process her situation? Charlotte sighed exasperatedly

"Charlotte, coe Please?" Sarah wrinkled her forehead in plea, though her tone was quite dee? Charlotte quirked an eyebrow

"I&039;," sheonce at him He remained stiff and tear-stained Actually, he&039;d been talking while she&039;d torn his heart to shreds, she reet the better of her as the i lump hardened in her throat

Abruptly, she heard what she was sure was Ears cawing in the distance, before sweeping down through the canopy abruptly to land on a branch just above the startled group Charlotte flinched as the tawny falcon cawed again She frowned at Nikolai, whose eyes were locked with a curious expression on the bird, his jaw set in a hard clench Ears s wide Charlotte watched in astonish feathers see into a pale flesh that eventually sprouted into muscular arly familiar face of Aiden Price as the tawny feathers beca down froracefully with his metal armored boots in the snow The odd little metal vest that had protected the bird&039;s body was now spread out wide over Aiden&039;s chest,Charlotte wonder if that armor held the key to Aiden&039;s new transfor that ability before She winced at the overpowering sight of hi expression and pointy ears were all too sie His coray, and similar to the tone of Valek&039;s His eyes, once an emerald shade, nowelse-so Charlotte sensed nonetheless It was a new, scarier, inti quality that seemed to ainst the snow It seemed to make his stance broader and the peaks and valleys of his chiseled features harsher

"Hello," he whispered to her, his voice frosty and so her heart catch in her throat She needed to stare for just a fewbefore her

"Valek, watch it!" Sarah shrieked just in tie Nikolai as he lunged at him with a wooden stake Nikolai fell clu around on his back to see Valek loo over him, eyes black, ready for the kill