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Retribution

It was an iht for Sarah to behold: Charlotte cradled in Valek&039;s ar Edwin and Mr T&345;inozka joined the down off the Spider&039;s back to wrap his burlap arms around Sarah&039;s shoulders Terrified to lose the only one she&039;d called a friend in a long while, she couldn&039;t contain her tre out the rest of her days as Francis&039; houseed everything

Valek and Charlotte were having so sight, see nearly dead Her face was blank Her eyes held very little light at all The only indication she was still there with them were the tears that continued to drip silently down her cheeks and the fact that Valek was seehts

"Valek, please," Sarah iain

"Sarah, stop it!"

Valek was absolutely ruined She&039;d never seen the Va out His eyes were completely eclipsed in black and stained red with his tears She was unsure if it was Charlotte&039;s scent that had gotten to him, or if it was the effect of his desperation

"I will notso completelyhuman "What happened to my as a careless exercise on iven the choice"

Sarah&039;s heart leaped into her throat at these words He was going to give Charlotte the choice! There was still hope! Her gaze dashed instantly to Charlotte&039;s deathly face

"Lottie, listen to me, now You have to make a very careful decision Do you want me to save you? You have tih it carefully" Valek spoke low and deliberately, coaxing her Sarah felt Edwin&039;s arhter around her

"She&039;ll make it," Mr T&345;inozka hter A spitfire, that one is She truly is"

"Don&039;t do what you think we all want you to do You ht"

Sarah watched as more tears rolled silently frohtly She knew Charlotte was talking to Valek in herIt seemed like an eternity as the rest of them looked in on this intimate scene between the two It al-the final moments of fate between Charlotte and Valek Sarah stifled a sob with her hands cupped to her lips

"Yes, my love I think that is a wise decision"

Sarah&039;s heart leapt back up into her throat What was it? What was the decision?

"We all love you very much, but I most of all Always remember that And I will see you soon Wait for hed and even

Sarah felt like her heart dropped ten stories Charlotte had chosen to die Never in a er The hairs on the back of her neck bristled She didn&039;t want to believe it She heard a sob catch in Edwin&039;s throat, his burlap lips pressed tightly behind her ear Sarah didn&039;t cry She was nury even How could Charlotte be so selfish? They all needed her so much And then a new revelation dawned Charlotte didn&039;t want to be the burden any longer She was the only s, and in the wake of destroying the Regime once and for all, she didn&039;t want to slow them down Even as a newly created Vampire, she would do just that They&039;d constantly have to watch her-have to be aware that her new bloodlust et the better of her Charlotte probably realized, after seeing it so many times for herself, she never wanted to become that-never wanted to live that way

"Everyone just wait!" A fa Everyone froze as they turned to see its oalking toward the group The bright vision of his face in the darkness of the night was like breathing the first breath of fresh air

"Francis!" she cried, finally standing up on her quaking knees He didn&039;t look the saain-he looked hoas supposed to look She recalled how Vladislov had reduced hie and cursed creature Francis bounded to her and wrapped her in a tight e In all of her years working for hiarded her in such a kindly way What had happened to him in all this time?

"Where were you? Why didn&039;t you co tears, "Charlotte, she&039;s dead"

Francis hushed her, s the hair out of her face "I don&039;t think she&039;s quite dead, darling I still hear the faint heartbeat from that direction" He indicated Charlotte and Valek huddled in the snow

Charlotte&039;s eyes were still open, their expression hard, as though she was fighting to hold on to every last breath she had inside of her

Valek reh he peered up at Francis "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your sorry tail, as usual" Francis snorted "What&039;s with all the weeping? It&039;s terribly depressing" He yanked out a handkerchief that was tucked within his sleeve and handed it to Sarah before sauntering closer to Valek

Sarah wiped at her face as she appraised Francis There was so else that was different about hihter His hair held more sheen than was even usual Where had he come from? Her mind locked on Abelim Of course! The elders must have taken care of whatever spell Vladislov hadsmile She could always tell when Francis had a plan

"Give h he were a s his favorite broken toy Francis held his ar with Charlotte in his ar her over to Francis "She doesn&039;t want to change," he admitted "She said she doesn&039;t want to becoe her?" Francis cocked his head "Honestly, you don&039;t have much faith in your creator, do you? I do possess a certain ae about this stuff After all, I am older than you! Would you like to explain toin the middle of these woods unprotected, or would you like e before beauty," Valek responded, though Sarah heard no level of hu is, the child hasn&039;t committed hari kari She has actually saved her own life We just have to finish the process for her, because like h all the way" He gazed down at the liht the slightest twinkle as it lit and faded in her best friend&039;s eye She repressed a giggle as she distantly wondered what Charlotte&039;s response had been In that instant, Francis&039; glare landed on Nikolai, who stood quaking in the corner, his face green and drawn,he&039;d just witnessed

"Good, lad you&039;re here!" he announced for the benefit of the crowd like a circus ringallant style It was everything Sarah could do not to crack a smile

Francis knelt into the snow, Charlotte still cradled in his lap With one arm, he cradled Charlotte&039;s head, but with the other he moved quickly to undo the buttons at the top of her dress, ripping the material down over the hilt of the letter opener Sarah, paired with Edwin, ed just behind thely still and distant He regarded Charlotte with a horror-laced gaze, as if she were already dead Sarah could see why Sickly perspiration was beginning to for was very shallow Her eyes were sunk deep into her skull as she laySwiftly, Francis wrapped his slender, white fingers around the silver hilt of the blade, tearing it from Charlotte&039;s chest Her back arched in response to her own silent pain Sarah&039;s eyes pricked with tears again as she covered her ot a plan," Edhispered into her hair, his squeeze tightening on her shoulder

More blood ruptured from Charlotte&039;s chest, but Sarah couldn&039;t bear to rip her gaze away fro his face to the wound, they watched fixatedly as he licked it clean, until the flesh beneath his kiss began to repair itself, sealing shut Sarah glowered for aher arh Valek should have done that But one glance in Valek&039;s direction, and she was reminded why Francis was the elder Valek&039;s face looked aze frozen on Charlotte&039;s body There was no way, after aloodbye to her, that he could have been eh to handle this For the first tihts She wondered briefly if she should go comfort him, but the little voice in her rowledca a situation like this while living in Francis&039; house in Prague The first time he tasted a particular human&039;s blood was always the last He had never been forced to restrain hi new respect for him blossom in her chest

"Come to me!" He beckoned Nikolai fro stock-still like Valek Sarah frowned, wondering if all that Aiden had said was really fact She began to find the siered forward, blinking, as though he couldn&039;t believe his legs were actuallyafter the shock His eyes ide and watery, and he looked like nothing htened child that Sarah wanted to cradle He stopped just inches before Francis and Charlotte in the snow, staring down at them expectantly and with soentleness in his voice rather surprising "I aht hurt"