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And tomyself to Kreturus The lack of his presence concerned me, but just because I didn’t see him, didn’t mean he wasn’t nearby Maybe heh the snow, to nowhere I could effonate, but I needed to feel so I let the cold bite into the flesh on hhalf frozen to my shoulders

Eric Eric knehere the Satan’s Stone was That rock could be the answer to everything It could undo everything It could heal in The gates of Hell could not and would not open Not if I could stop it The stone could stop it The stone had stopped it before

Maybe Collin was right Maybe I hadn’t accepted my fate I didn’t have time to consider it I had to find that stone I had to find Eric It surprisedI kicked more snow into the air Speckles of white blinded h the cloud of snow The sting on ood

Since I’d been learning from Ilecica, my ability to feel sensations had been hindered Hindered is the wrong word My ability to feel was out of whack I felt sos, but not others It made me wonder if I could feel my arood as Collin’s hands slid over ht emotions when he left The entire ti ers squeezing the air out of s Maybe I could have convinced Collin that eren’t eneone

I kicked another pile of snow and walked through it Eric I had to find Eric He could find Satan’s Stone He had the book My fingers tensed, as I thought about it I needed that rock That stone was er than any of us I had to get my hands on it, but Eric had the book—the useless book that no one could read The book that connected things Eric had once known about Satan’s Stone Things he forgot because of h We’d figure out how to read it, and I’d kill him if I had to Screw Lorren and his ward

My eyes scanned the winter white blanket of ground in front of round Barren trees stuck up out of the snow like bony hands reaching for the warmth of the sun A smile slowly slid across ht, I effonated to the place

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Eerie quietness surroundedthe into a quill They ers stroked er felt the pain The sound of snow filled my ears as it fell from the heavens and softly touched the earth It was utterly quiet

The brown building stood in stark contrast to the pure white that covered its roof like a woolen blanket The building itself was dark Not a single light was blazing within the s of St Bart’s I stood at the side entrance on the inside of a seldoh the shadowed hallways Cobwebs clung to the corners of the walls, filling nooks with silvery threads A thick layer of dust carpeted the dark wood floors le footprint to be found The building was deserted No one had been here since Al left The nuns had left The church was gone

This was no longer holy ground

Eric was here I was sure of it My feet slid down the darkened halls puncturing the perfect dust, leaving long trails on the floor behindever so slowly, I slid one foot at a time—one breath at a tiht poured in through an overheadWithin the bea past pews, I reh the darkness still half frozen fro soaked by the snow

A lone figure sat with his back toon the altar with his legs hung over the sides His hands gripped the wooden table as he looked up to the colored glass high above The bright winter sun shone through thecasting a kaleidoscope of color on the dark carpet The patchwork of color also touched Eric’s ar his wrist, exa a piece of sunshine in his palm

I slid le noise that let him knoas so close So very close My comb was already drawn The tines were extended I barely breathed as I neared his back The wood altar under hireat to throay I ot so close that if I breathed, he’d feel lass, I ht ear

And I breathed his name as I exhaled softly, “Eric”

His spine straightened, as his back lost its relaxed curve He tried to jump off the altar to his feet, but my ar him backwards with one swift pull, he fell off the slab of wood, and lay in the center aisle with his back to the floor Shocked golden eyes ide as the air was knocked out of his lungs Eric gasped for air, momentarily stunned Before he couldone knee on each side of him The silvery tines of my weapon touched his throat His skin hissed as he tried to press himself into the floor He couldn’t try to throwthe silver deeper into his throat Eric’s body tensed and became perfectly still beneath me

“Miss me?” A wicked smile pulled at the corners of htly so they no longer touched his skin The smell of burnt flesh dissipated If Eric took a deep breath, the tines would resule one