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"This is absolutely uncalled for I am, if you recall, the Zorya I do not expect to be treated like this!"

My exaggerated outrage fell upon deaf ears Well, aliving me a nod of approval

"Aye, our reaper has spirit But what is this place?" Hallur asked as the ghosts trooped after me

"I told you this would happen," Kristjana alht of stairs

"This is the house that the Brotherhood uses," I said softly to hosts

"Ah Rather chill here, isn&039;t it?" Hallur rubbed his ghostly arveldur said fro down? I don&039;t particularly liked closed-in spaces"

"You can stay up here," I told Ulfur sotto voce, so the others wouldn&039;t hear me "You should be safe in the Brotherhood house I can&039;t ii would come here"

He nodded and went to explain to the rest of the ghosts

"We&039;ll be right up here if you need us," Ingveldur called as I was led down into the basement Frederic was behind us; Mattias lanced at Kristoff, as being unusually silent He hadn&039;t gone easily, his face still showing the effects of the battle with Mattias that had been ended abruptly when Frederic pulled out a wicked-looking gun and held it to avedown the stairs Trussed up like a turkey, I would have preferred to have a hand free to hold on to the railing lest she act on the idea of getting a new Zorya

"I told you that she was tainted," the wo me another shove "She&039;s a Beloved!"

"Hey, watch it! I almost fell! You could have broken my neck!"

Behind me, Kristjana snorted "A Beloved is immortal"

I flared my nostrils at her "Look, I don&039;t knohat sort of relationship you think that Kristoff and I have, but we&039;re not dating, much less in love," I told her as I stumbled on the last step "And I&039;m certainly not immortal"

"Not him, the other one," she answered

"Alec? Is he here? Is he all right?" I stopped, refusing to go any farther "If you&039;ve hurt hi us as if we are fools," Kristjana interrupted "Yes, your Dark One is here" A slow smile crept across her face It wasn&039;t particularly nice "He has not been cleansed yet But I very ht"

"If you strike us down, you will sihis silence "We do not act alone Nor e tolerate your persecution"

Kristjana spat at hi careful, I was interested to note, to stay just out of his reach "We will purge the earth of your kind just as the light was purged of darkness"

"Rhetorical gibberish," Kristoff said, and probably would have continued if Mattias hadn&039;t sla toward therippedon the fanatical I wondered if she was mentally stable, or if her belief in the Brotherhood had consuht cleanses your Dark One You will see as I have seen how the darkness can be stripped from them"

That prettyas I said, "I understand why you think they are evil, but I assure you, Alec and Kristoff are not You ood intentions, but where they concern these two men, you&039;re way off base If you would untie us, I&039;d be happy to sit down and explain everything to you"

"The tihteousness "Now is the tiht?"

The question was asked of Frederic

"Who do you expect will conduct the ceremony?" Frederic asked in his soft, French-accented voice "You just declared the Zorya tainted"

"And you cannot deny that!" Kristjana cried "You can&039;t deny that she was unsuitable for the job fro Look at how she&039;s deceived us! By the light, Frederic, she&039;s a Beloved!"

Frederic said nothing as he strolled down the last of the stairs, ainst the wall, whipping out a set of keys to unlock the door

"I told you that I&039; anyone - " I started to correct Kristjana

She spun around "Oh, shut up, you ignorant fool A Beloved is not a girlfriend, it is a so-called savior of Dark Ones, not that they can be saved by anything but the purity of the light"

I decided the best defense was a good offense, and whirled away fro an assertive stance in the middle of the room "You will not talk to me that way! I am the Zorya, not you, and you will treat me with the respect and honor due someone in ht out and smacked me smartly across the left cheek "How dare you! You pollute the very air we breathe, and you expect us to treat you with respect? You, who have betrayed everything we stand for You, who have aided the Dark One we hold by pro him salvation Well, we shall see that he has it - but it will be true salvation, not the farce you call rede noise "Hypocritical diatribe Youyour true intentions behind a cloak of righteousness, but not even your precious light can hide the truth about your actions You deal in death, not divinity; torture, not salvation"

"I will enjoy watching you cleansed, too," Kristjana said, her face as rigid as a iven the chance to see the truth when your friend receives the light first"

I stared at her in horror, the zeal in her voice raising goose buht Alec would be forced to endure "Please, listen to ht the injustices done her, and I a - about Alec and Kristoff If they hat you say they are, I&039;d do everything inthehtened up, clearly about to launch another physical attack, but Frederic&039;s soft voice stopped her "That will be enough, sister You will not strike Zorya Pia again"

"She is not worthy of the name Zorya," Kristjana spat

"That has yet to be deter me "We will leave that to the Zenith to decide"

I turned to him as a bastion of sanity "May I see Alec, please? I&039;d like to ht, then I would like to explain to you what&039;s been going on"

Frederic looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded toward Mattias

Mattias shoved Kristoff through the door he&039;d unlocked and sla it before he marched over to the door on the opposite side of the rooaped open beforea hesitant step toward it

"Pia?" Fro out "Love, is that you?"

"Love?" Kristjana said, her voice dripping with scorn

"Are you hurt?" I hurried over to him, but Mattias leaped in front of"Mattias, please"

His eyes narrowed on me "You marry me, but you are his Beloved? I did not believe that of you, Pia"

"I&039;m sorry about that, but there were reasons"

"I&039;ht, just a bit bruised," Alec said as I stopped He peered over Mattias&039;s shoulder at h his hands were bound in front of hiet away, however"

"I did We came to rescue you," I said with a wry smile

"We?"

"Kristoff is here, too"

"He always did have aze warm on me despite the circumstances He turned to consider Frederic "I take it you have plans to use Pia to destroy Kristoff and me?"

Kristjana started to answer, but Frederic held up a hand to stop her "You are Dark Ones We are obliged to purify you However, the Zorya has asked for a chance to speak, assumedly in your behalf"

"Yes, I would like to do that" A tiny little flicker of hope rose despite the situation "I think if you could get to know theeful monsters you paint them"

"Just yesterday two of our brothers were injured, and a third killed By all accounts, the murderer was the Dark One you na circu my dried lips "Your people attacked Kristoff and me without provocation The man as killed held a knife to ain "We will save this discussion for the Zenith to hear"

"You&039;re not going to let her go?" Kristjana asked in outrage

He looked thoughtful for a moment "I believe that would not be wise However, ill allow you to have your say, Zorya Pia As you know, the liturgy of light is to be held tonight, to endow you with the powers of Midnight Zorya We will hold a convocation then to bear witness to all you wish to say Following that" His gaze went to Alec, who glared back at hi to listen," I said, holding up my hands, which, unlike those of the two ether with duct tape "I&039;d appreciate it if you could take this offto chafe"

Kristjana looked like she wanted to chafe the rest of e tub of explosives, but Frederic siestured toward Mattias

"Love, don&039;t let them - " Alec&039;s voice was cut off as he was shoved back into his hellhole, the door slammed after him

"Is that really necessary?" I asked Frederic as Mattias flicked open a penknife and cut through the tape on rey wad and absently rubbed ht and so aze "You will understand that we cannot allow you to roay have been conducted"

"I don&039;t understand, but I have resolved myself to confinement," I said loftily

"We only have two secure cells," Kristjana said, her expression doubtful as she looked at Frederic "You do not intend to leave her with her Dark One The two of theerous"

"I am not so convinced of that as you are," Frederic answered slowly "But I agree that it would be unwise to leave the in a hotel rooe ofKristoff and Alec behind "Or I could - "

"Place her with the other one," Frederic pronounced before turning and starting up the stairs

"What? No, wait - "

Before I could rally a protest, Mattias grabbed my arm, unlocked Kristoff&039;s door, shoved me inside, and slammed the door closed behind me

"Hey! I&039;m the Zorya, remember?" I threw myself back into the door and pounded on it "Mattias, let me out! I promise I won&039;t run away or marry anyone else, OK? Mattias? Hello?"

"Perhaps you shouldn&039;t make such hasty promises," Kristoff&039;s deep, rich voice rolled around in the darkness of the rooht wish to take a third husband"

"Oh, be quiet, you Mattias? Da There was no light in the roo in from outside, which meant either there weren&039;t any s, or they were boarded up tightly There was a shtly veldur had picked up on when she looked down into the base in a pantry too long "Where are you?"

A painful-sounding thud caht scuffling noise that finished with a wooden creak "On a chair"

I held out"Where on a chair? Lovely, now I sound like Dr Seuss I don&039;t suppose you can see in the dark, can you?"

Kristoff snorted "No Nor can I turn into a bat and escape this prison, or change into a wolf and attack your second husband the moment he opens the door, or even dissolve into a wisp of sh the crack under the door I&039; just as bad a day as you are, so you needn&039;t be quite so snarky I don&039;t knohere you are," I said, taking a fewinto the darkness

"Why do you care where I aht be able to get yours free, as well, and then we can do so about this business Could you talk some more so I can find you?" I shuffled a couplesoft and squishy I ju else is here!"

"Yes My eyeball"

"Oh Sorry" I reached out carefully, baby stepping forward until ers landed on a nose with a little break in the o of my nose you&039;ll make me sneeze"

"Sorry" I took the last couple of steps forward, feeling my way down to his shoulders, then around to his back where his hands were bound "I suppose you&039;ve tried wiggling your hands out of the handcuffs?"

"Yes I as They seeht around Kristoff&039;s wrists I sat back on"And I do not kno to pick a lock, unfortunately Well, no use in crying over spilledwe can use as a weapon?"