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One beat of silence, two Then, "Yes, of course, Leader of the Supre shot, Thane disappeared in a burst of

A scant el’s hand, the fla shards of aht licked over deteran to arc down in swift succession, screanarled and now-headless bodies rained fronal That would have to be dealt with later

Though he would have enjoyed slaying the deer prey this night A path eventually cleared, and he glided don…and landed gracefully on the flat edge of the roof He tucked his wings into his back

"The feral de," a fae beast thumped lifelessly at Zacharel’s feet Poison beaded at the end of its claws Large horns protruded from its shoulders, and patches of fur and scales forht problem The demon had no head

"This demon is deceased," he said

Only the barest of pauses before Bjorn responded, "Thane relayed your order verbatih to specify a preference"

"True" He absolutely should have known better

Bjorn, hovering at the side of the building, said, "Shall I bring you another or do you think to repri?" The words held a bitter edge

Bjorn was a brute of a ,contrast

Soon after his rescue froe of death through the heavens, where none had been safe froh Council had ruled Bjorn unstable and unfit for duty Falling was too lenient a punishment, they’d said, and so he had been sentenced to a true death, his spirit, the power that fueled his life, his soul, the embodiment of his emotions, and his physical body to be wiped from existence entirely

Thane and Xerxes had protested, de they would be responsible were any other problems to arise They’d also vowed to ensure they died the true death as well if separated froiven in With the a the world, warriors of their caliber were in high deain

"There will be no repriaze caught on the serpe de in an attempt to escape notice Serpes possessed the head and torso of a human but the lower body of a snake, and wereover, Zacharel grabbed the thick, rattling tail and jerked The serpe twisted, fangs bared, arms raised to attack whoever had dared stop hi his forear his free hand to latch on to the demon’s neck He squeezed

Criers slashed at hio back, I ssswear"

Finally, respect for his authority

"This one will do," he told Bjorn "You el inclined his head even as his eyes glazed with baffle back into battle

"Pleassse! I go!"

The de for whatever reason, but Zacharel had no such problem He commanded his body, as well as the serpe’s, to h the stone Seconds later, Zacharel stood on the building’s bottohed with bliss and reached up toward the ceiling "Time for my fun…"

Zacharel tossed the demon across the lobby’s freshly polished floor Multiple security guards patrolled the area and several hule one noticed the intruders in their h the ceiling and disappearing fro him proved easy Zacharel moved from floor to floor, ainto one of the rooms on level fourteen

Inside, the walls were covered with black padding There were no s A single vent in the ceiling provided the only breeze, and a frigid one at that The room was barren except for one lone piece of furniture A hospital gurney, with…a young woman strapped to the top

Every muscle in his body knotted For a moment, the past threatened to rise up and s him whole

Kill o he’d built a dam to hold back his memories of the past, a barrier he’d desperately needed Would always need, it see his lance, the woman appeared to be asleep But then her head lolled to the side, her attention seely ensnared by the deer and fear suddenly pulsed from her