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“Disobeyed…” she whispered Bella tried to crawl closer tohers as I aided her tired movements

“Disobeyed what… who?” I questioned as she resettled near the gate, s weakly as she inhaled the fresh air of the late afternoon, the sun war her cheeks

“Gabriel… disobeyed in my duty… to be with him… resisted… he said I was selfish…” Her brows furrowed in confusion “I cannot… remember the rest… It is all blurry…”

Sucking in a sharp breath, I whispered, “No, sister!”

A quiet sob slipped from her throat, but the tears could not escape her swollen eyes “I cannot reed… I…”

“Bella, I am so sorry…”

“Shh… it’s not your fault…” Wincing, biting back pain, Bella htly closer, then settled back, only to say, “Gabriel has taken every part of me since I was a child: my innocence, my body, but never my heart He is not worthy of ave me the chance to find the one man in the world who deserved it Gabriel is a bitter and twisted monster”

Pressinggown, I leveled ht at my sister’s swollen blue eyes, eyes just like ood person, no matter what he did to you”

“You are right, my sister, and I will meet our God with a clear conscience,” she rasped in a barely audible, gravelly voice

My htened and my breath came in short, sharp bursts Meet our God?

Lowering her hands, then gripping the iron bars, I frantically pulled at the gate Lilah joined ether, it did not move an inch

“Bella, I shall get you out—” I assured her as we shook the gate harder, but to no avail

“Stop… stop… I a, Mae…”

“No!” I cried in despair as I slu suit

Stretching out her boney hand, I grasped ers once more and kissed the broken skin on her palm

“I want to go, Mae I want to be with our Lord I cannot keep living like this,” she confessed

“No, Bella, please… I need you”

“I think she has been in this cell, kept like this, for a long ti, Mae Bella is badly injured… badly… hurt,” Lilah whispered

“Where is Maddie?” I suddenly asked, fear seizingtaken too

Lilah ran her shaky hands down her face “Brother Moses took her for his Lord’s sharing”

I winced She would come back even more of an introvert Every tis to her Maddie was a shell: never speaking, barely living She was a walking ghost