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Three o

Use your other tendencies, Riley You don’t have to fight so hard

Victorian’s voice echoes inside ets close--almost too close My reflexes are fast and I take it down, land in a crouch I don’t wait

I kill them all

Their screams as their bodies break down chasefor Valerian

I know you’re here, Arcos! You ht as well corips me--a desperation to find hiht to Hell But each roo walls and broken metal furniture It reminds me of the tuberculosis sanatoriums they used to have at the turn of the twentieth century until the forties and fifties An unsettled sensation creeps over h the halls I’m alone, frustrated, frantic Innocent people have died at this place; I can sense it Smell it

Taste it

As I h the halls I hear the eerie echo of ister that I’oddamn fast, the walls and doors blur past me My tendencies are many, and apparently they are as close to vampiric as a human can have

In the next second, no fewer than a dozen newlings burst from the stairwell They surroundand hard enough to ht therabsWe leave the third floor, down the stairwell, to the second floor At the end of the corridor, a door stands open I’h I stuht

The door slaht is turned on

I i from you, Riley," Valerian’s voice speaks fro that even I don’t possess As a matter of fact, I’m positive there isn’t a soul alive--or not--who possesses it You are…unique that way Highly desirable"

I peer into the darkness until a shape, still as stone in the corner, moves My hand palo pants, at the back

"All that silver won’t do you any good with me," Valerian says

"What do you ith ers wrapped around the blade

Valerian laughs lightly "Ah, it’s so refreshing to experience a human with tendencies who is still so…na&iuh his shadow hasn’t budged It’s alainst my eardrum I inch slowly toward the far wall, the sheath of h me "Why don’t you come out of the shadows and see how naïve I am?" I say He doesn’t scare ain, his low laugh resonates through me

"Oh, I will certainly co forward to this for far too long"

The shadows shift, and by the ti before ly like Victorian

Dark, wavy hair brushes the collar of a black silk buttoned-up shirt, tucked loosely into a pair of equally dark pants Eyes the color of espresso stare atFull lips and flawless skin rins

I ease s a finger at me "Play nice I’m not here to kill you, and we both kno easily I could have done that, had I wanted to"

I keep

"My brother has always had a severe obsession for you," he continues "I have always hated him for that You understand, don’t you? Our kind should re with a uard is up, every nerve ending on alert

He s, slow sins "Our kind exists forever We’re strong Capable We understand our affliction But with you? Even with tendencies, it’s not feasible to risk You’re…weak Vulnerable" His smile is wistful "I’ve learned too vulnerable"

My interest is piqued, but I say nothing

He notices

Valerian paces Slowly Predatorlike "You are an exception, though," he says, and rubs his finger over the flat surface of a discarded metal cabinet "You always have been"

My insides lurch