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"Very well But Icare of a feined"

"Hey! I aaze met hers for a protracted second "To ato only his own needs, you are indeed highyou"

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ZACHAREL CONSIDERED HIS options Demons had found Annabelle in the clouds They’d found her in the cave Clearly, keeping her underground wasn’t the answer anyher in the heavens had been So that left…what?

Knocking her out? No one had attacked her while she had slept Or…wait "How long were you in the institution before the demons found you?"

"A month, maybe"

A month Her scent and allureher People, then People were not a threat but a key

With that in mind, he flew her to a busy hotel for hu a rooh the walls until spying what he wanted: an unoccupied space, with guests on either side, above and below

"Shower War More than the i temperature

In the hotel’s kitchen he acquired chicken and rice for her and fruit for hied a clean uniforh money behind toand the roo how harsh it felt against his skin She would be scratched, and the thought did not settle well He wished he had another robe tucked away, but he had left the extra one in the cave with her purchases He could have flown to another location, found her so hi better

When she e was too short for her She didn’t seeh, and to be honest, she looked adorable

Without a word she placed a dagger under a pillow on the bed and one on the nightstand

"Hungry?" he asked

"Starved"

They ate in silence, her clean, soapy scent a live wire that connected theht ponytail, the strands like glistening ebony silk The style left her face bare, nothing hiding those uptilted, crystalline eyes, those sharp, rose-tinted cheeks or those heart-shaped lips Actually, adorable was not the right word She was beauty personified

What would she look like spread over the bed, her hair a spill of velvet, her eyes heavy lidded, her cheeks flushed with passion and her lips parted as she breathed hi through the quiet Her voice held traces of exhaustion, elation and…so he couldn’t identify

"You are welcolassy "So what now?"

"Now you relax Too long has passed since you’ve rested"

"Ithe flight here, and really, I’ yawn "Okay, so h"

Understandable Or…on closer inspection, he could see the shadows bloo under her eyes It wouldn’t take much to quiet her mind, but perhaps she had no wish for it to be quieted After such a trying day, nightue her He wondered if he would be the star of them

"What do you usually do to help you relax?"

"I wish I knew In the institution, I was given drugs"

And then forced to do whatever her doctors had wished He could tolerate that knowledge less and less "Cli to watch Distract yourself" That’s what he’d seen hout the years

"Sir, yes, sir" Keeping an eye on hi, flipping channels Eventually she gave up and pressed Off, then tossed the re you have so uard her…think "I will be co instructions for my argled into the covers, fluffed the pillows and peered over at hi from her Had she expected him to pounce on her?

"Some," he said, "but not much"

"Lucky I despise the fact that I need to sleep"

Because she wasto fear with h "I know"