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The dread spiked

Stay calm You have to stay cal?" she asked

With a pained moan he dropped to his knees, and suddenly she could read his expression Agonized, asharetful, horrified… Just then he was a broken man, the pieces scattered in too ether

"I…I… Zacharel?"

"I’m sorry, Annabelle So sorry"

In the next instant, the truth hit her with the force of a baseball bat What she remembered wasn’t a dreah the forest She had fought Zacharel

Eyes wide, she held out her arms, but a robe blocked her view of herself She only dared to breathe again when she rolled back the sleeves and saw the light brown of her skin

Winding her arms around her back proved s! Thank the Lord! Her back was sed where it should be ridged

Zacharel watched her without uttering a word Still on his knees, humbled before her

Her arms fell heavily to her sides "You hit me," she stated flatly Gone was the dread, but in its place was a bone-deep disappoint his sternum "I know"

"And you didn’t knoho I was"

"No I did not"

He wasn’t even trying to defend hie in a huht impossible He could have reminded her of her reaction to him, when he had morphed into a demon

"Why did I transforlance up "Tell me what happened in the cloud first Then I will tell you everything I know, or even suspect I will hide no detail from you"

"Very well"

He listened as she spoke, and every so often, he nodded By the end, his shoulders were sluht rested atop thes," Zacharel said, "but they cannot change a human into a demon The demon lied about that part Nor would a "

"But then how could I have changed if it wasn’t the cloud or the de every part of her "Does thatup with my insides?"

"Possibly I think, when you were marked, more was done to you than either of us realized I think the demon replaced a piece of your spirit"

No, surely not She would have known Right? "How is that possible?"

"He would have reached inside your body with a spiritual hand, and, like a blade can remove a limb, taken what he wanted Probably just a ser than a dime He would then have replaced that piece with one of his own, exchanging the two, bonding you faryou"

White-hot fury exploded through her, co the dread, and she found herself beating at Zacharel’s shoulders "For the last time, I’m not married to the demon who murdered my parents! I’m not! And I’m not melded, either!"

He never lifted a hand in defense "If that was indeed done to you, your life is linked to his As long as he lives, you live As long as you live, he lives I had not considered that possibility before, but it is clear to h her"But…but… Why send other demons after me? If I died, he would have died"

"Re blocked hi you physically? I believe that sa blow, as well"

"But I…I just can’t be melded to him" And of course, the burn in her chest fired up as it always did when her…negative eht! The burn had played a part in the change, and her emotions had played a part in the burn