Page 54 (1/2)

She told Zacharel, and he nodded, saying, "That makes sense The only question nohy the de consent, and the dream would not have provided that consent, he violated one of the highest heavenly laws Free will"

Her heart skipped a tortured beat So in his tone… "And you’re an enforcer of those laws, right?" That’s what he’d told her during their first , she was sure And that could only ed as a whisper "No"

"Yes," he confirmed

"So you will be the one to carry out his sentence?"

A nod this time, rather than a verbal response

Another heartbeat was missed because she suspected the answer "And that sentence is?"

There was a long, tense pause He looked up, he looked down, then left and right, as if he wanted to be anywhere else Finally, she heard, "Death"

Every fiber of her being rebelled at the thought of her own By upholding the law, Zacharel would be killing the de Annabelle "Hoould this…e into a demon four years after the fact?"

"I’ve seen the way the Lords of the Underworld coative emotions overtake them It’s just as you described They lose control of their hu abolished The demon inside the cloud knehat had happened to you all those years ago, so he kne to elicit the response he wanted"

"I agree, I do Iwas my idea But I don’t understand how four horror-filled years could have passed without a single change, and then all of a sudden, booed for all of those four years, and those drugs were meant to suppress the depths of your eain, the drugs were likely lingering in your systes"

"But I’ve been over the withdrawals for a while," she said, clinging to a hope that they rong

"You’ve also been injured or recovering Weakened"

Yes, there was that "But what about the Water of Life?"

"It healed the huravated the demon part, and it, too, would have slowed your transforravated the two times he’d fed her the stuff, hadn’t she

Hope withered Her chin quivered, and her eyes welled with tears she refused to shed She was part deh her She was part dee and helplessness this tiain?" she croaked, though she already knew the answer Could already feel the burn sprouting in her chest

"With extreative emotion…yes, I think you will"

"Can the de else?" Another spark of hope formed…

"No Too much time has passed"

…and was destroyed

I won’t cry I won’t

"The deh the forest, he had absorbed my brother’s essentia There was a piece of me in there, too But I did not die when the de had taken root And I was able to re fronized me What’s in you has taken root and would resist It would not recognize me, nor want any part of me"

She heard his unspoken words If he tried to free her, she would suffer and probably die anyway "I don’t care about the pain or even dying Get the de, but I do," he said simply "I will not do that to you Ever Do not ask it of me"

Only took a mo the same to his brother, and could withstand no more So no, she couldn’t, wouldn’t ask it of hih lord I will lock him away" Zacharel rested his head in her lap, his aran to shake "I am sorry for this, Annabelle So very sorry"