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She gripped the handle and breathed in deeply, the fear building inside her

She knew her own death was co Not hoould happen, or where, but she knew there was no avoiding it If it happened here, then her father wouldn’t be nearby Her mother wouldn’t see it They would be safer

She had known she would die here She had dreahostly forms that had drifted away from her over the past months, had warned her of it They had told her that this was her destiny, that only here, and only with her blood, would the future become what it should be

She didn’t want to die She was only eighteen; there was so much that she wanted to see, wanted to experience She wanted to dance and laugh She wanted to know the truth of the shadowed vision of a hter in life rather than just in sleep

She wanted to watch her baby brother grow, and she wanted to be a woman, rather than the woman-child she knew she was

But here, she had been warned Here, her blood would be spilled by the one that held the wavering form of a child bound in the past He would set into motion the future for the Breeds, for Dawn, and lay yet another piece of the puzzle that would eventually for, able Breed community

She would die by that man’s hand And far better that she die alon

e, with none but her killer to see her fear

She turned the door handle and slowly opened the door

The sun was rising, casting alay in shadow, and the shadoelcoet And she knew soht there, the center of her forehead

She stared out into the thick covering of trees and ached She ached for so hts and dreams and a life she would never have Because she was unique, her father said The truth was, because she was a freak

And whoever watched her knew He knehat she was, and he knew she couldn’t be allowed to live, didn’t he? They wouldn’t want to take her in; in the Council’s hands she would be a lever against the Breeds, a shift in the balance of power And at present, there were so feanted anything to shift War was always profitable Even a silent war such as was being waged on the Breeds

No, whoever was out there didn’t want to take her in But his sights were on her, gun sights, steady Clear She stared into the smile, mouthed the words, I dare you!

Froht between those beautiful blue eyes, and i her

She was dressed in an evening gown, black, and it flowed around her like the night