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“That’s not what happened,” she said And it wasn’t Instead of torth “Everything that could have been done for hter was done”

“But you could have done more,” he pressed “You could have taken her to America—”

That thought had been looping in her head for a year If only they had otten sick If she had, she ht have had better medical care But here in this cave, at what Hulan supposed was the end of her life, she finally understood that those were only wishes that could never be known or fulfilled She had done everything huhter

Hulan noticed that Michael was speaking again

“When she died, you got what you think you’ve always deserved—an empty heart” He spoke his conclusion triunorance was an advantage Hulan could exploit “But it doesn’t have to be that way Open yourself, Hulan, join me Not as a follower, but as an equal Think e could do together”

She al these last couple of days haddifference between being flattered by aup her moral center to him

“Some people deserve happiness Some people earn it You’ve earned it, Hulan”

“Maybe living righteously doesn’t deserve a reward” She knew the truth now, and it gave her the fortitude to fight for her life

“But what about those who do wrong?” As he spoke, Hulan realized that, for all of his supposed awareness, Michael Quon was cos he didn’t want to see “Don’t you think Lily deserved punishs she did?”

“She was not an honest person, but she didn’t deserve to die”

“Mankind has come to believe in science and the exactness of htfully “For every action there is a reaction, and all that But ht when they trusted in kar your just deserts Certainly you’ve seen people who deserved the worst but received no punishment”

Hom was dead now Within ar was covered with bits of flesh and blood, but she could also see that the blade was made of some type of chiseled stone, which had been strapped to a wooden handle

Quon answered her question before she asked it, just as he had last night at dinner “It’s a chiest stone in the world, and it makes a clean cut Every one that Brian stole and Lily put up for sale I bought and brought back to its rightful place”

“But not for its rightful use,” she pointed out “It was supposed to make music, not be an instrument of torture and death”

He ignored the comment and asked, “Where’s the rest of it, Hulan?”