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"As I love you," he reminded her

"You’re also the only other vampire on earth who is as fucked-up as I aes of one of the scars he carried "Huet the chance, they’ll do it again But they won’t, because I will kill anyone who tries"

Now he understood "The Brethren are hu ourselves against them is not the same as what Helada did to those children"

She rested her cheek against his shoulder "I don’t kno er I can do this, Gabriel Whatever Elizabeth did to me, I’m still human inside, and I won’t lose that Not ever If thatto have to let o"

He stroked her back "Then I will coive the intrusion,a few feet away He spoke in French with an Italian accent, and on the lapel of his jacket he wore a black cameo etched with a rose, the syio Benetta, my lord Field operative of Padrone Ramas of the tresoran council" He bowed low and then went down on one knee "My master sent me and a dozen ht require"

"Secure the pres fro" Gabriel looked down at Nicola "Send them by private courier to Richard Tremayne Keep your men here and wait for further instructions"

"As you coain, and left

Before Gabriel could speak, Nicola said, "We have to track Korvel, and it’s going to be light soon We’ll talk later, okay?"

Gabriel heard the weariness in her voice, which troubled him as much as what she had said before Benetta had arrived "The hill trails here are too narrow to drive We’ll need horses; can you ride?"

She nodded "There’s a barn full of them back that way"

Once they had saddled and mounted two of the stock horses, they followed the track of Korvel’s scent out to the front gates and along the dirt path that circled around to the château’s side wall There he spotted the hoof prints left behind by the mount that had carried Korvel away into the hills

"The horse was carrying a heavy burden," Gabriel said after inspecting the depth of the tracks "I think it was the feside theit" Nicola pointed to sular line in the soil beside the h the hills until the trail came to an old e gleaned fields

Gabriel dis with Nicola, and tethered the horses to a fence before they approached the house fro in the yard--a them several nuns’ habits--he stopped "This is a convent"

"Maybe" Nicola closed her eyes briefly "Korvel was here, but he’s gone now" She looked at Gabriel "So is everyone else The place is completely deserted"

Saint Paul stood over the basket of clean laundry as he chewed on a shred of gray fabric Beneath his hooves lay the rest of Si with all her white head veils

She looked around the eoat "That will only ain"

Saint Paul sed the fabric "You should have killed me the first time," he said in Pájaro’s voice before he bent his head and tore another strip froure walking back and forth in the yard Too large to be Flavia or any of the sisters, the shadow itated fashion

She went out into the lishainst the side of his face and was talking to himself

"…x200B;the lines will be restored?" He stopped and scowled "That is unacceptable I don’t care about the storm"

"Girl"

Siarden Large, perfect blooms adorned every bush, but as she went to touch one it shrank in on itself, turning brown and then black as the entire bush withered

A skeletal hand eed from the soil and clamped around her ankle as her father’s voice whispered, "You will keep the bargain"

Si as she tried to free herself, but the hand dragged her down, pulling her into the ground, into the earth, where everything was soft and silent and dark--