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"It ho I was An executioner," I cut in,low "I killed people Sometimes I didn’t make it quick Do you knohat that ave her one "A monster It makes me a monster"

"No" Her hands landed atop mine, and when I started to pull them away, she held on "You are not a monster, Seth You did what you had to do What you were ordered to do"

"Josie--"

"There are people--mortals--who kill other people every day because they are ordered to do so Does that make men and women in the ripped s if you hadn’t been ordered?"

Of course I wouldn’t have I’d learnedorders, but did that change the last year ofI had done before then

"Would you, Seth? Would you have done it if you weren’t made to?"

I closed my eyes and my response was barely above a whisper "No"

She squeezedto lie and say that it isn’t a big deal, but I know you You did what you had to do, not because you wanted to There’s a difference there" She paused as her hands slid up toopen my eyes, I drew back as far as she’d let me

"What?"

"I ran over a squirrel the second time I ever drove a car," she repeated "I also hit a deer And when I was seventeen, I clipped a cat Before I left for college, I backed into a dog"

"Gods," Iat the corners "His naolden retriever Like, the ods

"And the owner’s five-year-old kid saw it Buddy survived, but I’m kind of like a mass murderer when it comes to animals and me behind the wheel"

My lips twitched It wasn’t funny I had to keep telling "