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"Woman! Now"

"I can’t," she said, the words broken He’d already proven he would do anything to protect his friend Like, say, throwing a strange fe her wrists "My hands won’t cooperate"

Aher attention The covers writhed, the pristineher of a violent snowstorm

No, not covers, she realized Zacharel He lay in the center She’d missed him because his robe was as white as the co washed away in the bare minutes they’d been separated She rushed forward

Koldo extended an ar her

She lifted the blades, ready to strike at him, despite the fact that they were on the same side, but he used his free hand to pry the weapons fro not to put any weight on her palms, she crawled onto the bed, careful, so careful not to jostle theas I can," she murmured when she reached Zacharel, and to her surprise, he stilled "But I’ that will be," she added, more for Koldo’s benefit "The demons are drawn to me, and apparently they can find me wherever I am Zacharel can’t withstand another attack Not like this"

His wings were still broken, and without the blood caking the His skin was chalk-white, his only color the dark bruises beneath his eyes A large puncture decorated the center of his lower lip The tip of a branch ums

"How did I walk aithout a scratch, while he looks like this?" she asked softly

Koldo assu before you landed?"

She thought back, recalled how Zacharel had forced that single drop of water into her h her body, the pain "Yes Not h"

Excellent point "What was that stuff?"

Rather than reply to her question, Koldo changed the subject Must be an angel thing "He would not settle until I assured him you were alive He also made me swear to keep you by his side"

But…but…ould Zacharel do such a thing? "Is there a way to speed his recovery?"

"Yes"

When Koldo offered no lance "Well? What is it? The water he gavethe vial away

Features hardened on a battlefield no longer displayed any hint of emotion, yet still he couldn’t quite hide the fire banked in his eyes "That infor I will share with a hu!"

"I will not even share the information with a demon consort Zacharel has decided to protect," he added with a frown, as if he’d just sensed so a boulder up a hill, she mused--a whole lot of ithoutthat will speed Zacharel’s recovery Can you get it? Or do you already have it?"

"Yes, I can get it No, I do not have it"

Silence

Make that a boulder with spikes "Well, then, get it!"

"No"

Annnd more silence

"Unless," he added-- from her, "you vow to keep Zacharel fro hiain The only exception would be if he were summoned for battle"

"Why do you want him kept away?" And why did Koldo assuel wanted her to stay with hiht the demons, so, yeah, she had the stay-by-my-side locked and loaded But that didn’t mean he would do whatever she desired

What’s more, did she dare shackle herself to Zacharel for a specific length of tier currently shadowed her steps, and that danger had nearly killed hiirl would leave him at the first opportunity

Koldo braced his hands behind his back, his legs apart A battle-ready stance she recognized, because she’d assumed the same position nearly every time she’d spied demons in the institution "All I require froaze swung back over Zacharel, his pain as obvious as the glint of her blades on the floor His lips were contorted in a griers were gnarled over the comforter, yet too weak to twist the ," whatever it was, or he would die