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Glossy pink lips curled in a seductive seisha? I could take pictures of ive them to you That henever we part, you can look at theed Annabelle She grabbed--and launched--two of her daggers Both were soon embedded in the other woman’s chest

"I’d like a picture of you just like this," Annabelle snarled "Thoughts?"

The female let out a shriek of shock and pain…then unleashed a streaht-up murder you!"

So for the door Others just kept bu," Zacharel said

The wo blades with a sharp jerk "Control your pet, angel"

"Unlike you, de huht to reprove Annabelle, he would stand in the gap and bear the punishment for her

Funny that he had coo Even funnier that he was --happy--to now do so

"Sorry about that," Annabelle ot the better of me"

He clasped her hand, squeezed "Because of the dee in the air, that will be easier to do Guard your eh!" the deht red Clearly she did not appreciate being ignored "This way" With that she turned and led thely over her shoulder "But do not expect Burden to be as welco as I was"

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ANNABELLE STRUGGLED TOthe entire journey to the ht of stairs and through the sh, even when people stopped what they were doing--having sex, snorting coke, torquing veins--to glare at her and Zacharel De on their shoulders, as Zacharel had said, but she couldn’t see the paradise, her struggle for co looked so nor The roo carpet interspersed with black, creating hypnotizing squares Bookshelves lined the wall behind a desk shaped like a half- overhead, positioned in the center of a three-tiered ceiling

Nice, right? But behind the desk sat a beautiful golden-haired h back of his leather chair rising several inches above his head, Dr Evil style He was far too thin, like, sickly thin, but his pose was all about the casual, his elbows resting on the chair arers steepled over his mouth Still, he couldn’t hide his air of cruelty

Who was he? The last line of security before they reached the demon?

His eyes were a darker shade of blue than Annabelle’s own, and dulled, his lashes brown yet tipped in gold The shadow of a beard scruffed his jaw He wore a navy blue pinstriped suit and suards behind him wore muscle tanks and leather pants, their expressions expectant No doubt they were the type to shoot first and ask questions later

The beautiful blond girl from the club, the one Annabelle had stabbed, plopped into a couch beside the door,about the best ways to torture pesky humans as she patched herself up

"Hello, Burden," Zacharel said

Burden This was Burden? The demon-possessed man who had ordered all those other demons to attack her inside the institution? I shouldn’t have wasted irl

Dr Evil’s s--and all the more sinister

"Ah, Zacharel," Burden said "I’m so pleased you received el replied, pleasantries clearly over

"Your manners…for shame" Burden’s voice was all satisfaction and potent desires "Business first? How rude May we offer you a drink? A whore? A hit?"

Silence

"No? And what about you, aze moved to Annabelle, slithered over her body and ?"

Zacharel stiffened as she said, "I’d love so For starters, I’ll take your head on the floor, detached from your body After that, we can talk about my next demand" So he’d told her to keep her mouth shut and her hands to herself while they were here and she had failed at both So what?

You’re already a target Do not reat advice…when dealing with anyone but a demon She could not co it But she would rein herself in from now, she vowed Zacharel had a plan; she knew he did He and the other three angels had stood in front of each other, silent, for half an hour, their facial expressions changing every fewwith each other Not that anyone had explained anything to her when they’d finished

Burden’s chuckle echoed through the office, cold and slick "Your thirst for blood doesany more weapons?" Another once-over ensued "Oh, yes, I think you are"

She wasn’t, but so wished she was

He uards, and it was obviously an order to frisk her

Zacharel moved in the blink of an eye, a sword of fire in his hand, and poised at the deuards made no move to stop him Either they were too afraid of him, or they had their own orders to obey