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McKell noticed her upset and sighed "Do not judge thens of

the"--he leaned forward, and when he next spoke, he whispered as if what he said was a curse --"nefreti"

A grih her "What’s that?" she found herself whispering back An Egyptian queen?

His lips thinned, as if even thinking of it were painful to him "They are vampires who are far le extraordinary ability, as is customary, they have all extraordinary abilities They are uncontrollable, unstoppable, and because of that they are deemed a threat to the royal fanized"

Devyn palers he’d taken to the auction before the last word left the warrior’s mouth He tossed it in the air, as if he hadn’t a care "I don’t think it needs to be said that if you touch her, I’ll slice you from end to end"

"So suspicious" McKell shook his head Thankfully he didn’t erupt at the sight of that weapon "I didn’t bring her here to kill her I’m the one who helped send her to the surface, after all, ensuring she lived Because she had been deemed my bride, I visited her often and already loved her as my own" There at the end, he eyed her expectantly

"I don’t re about this place"

Another sigh "No, I don’t guess you would Your mother took the memory of your time here from you, so that you would never return"

So That’s why Bride had had no idea who or what she was "She could have just toldto take that chance"

Even knowing it had been done for her own good failed to lessen the sting She wanted to grab the dagger now resting on Devyn’s thigh and stab so

"Everyone assu’s army, I was the one ordered to kill you Because of my reputation, everyone assumed I would do it And I meant to But I couldn’t Even then, youaffected me So we branded you, your mother and I, and we sent you to the surface As I said, she died soon after"

"Of sickness What kind of sickness? I’ve never been sick, so I assued "Perhaps sickness wasn’t the right word Sheare you sure you wish to know?"

"Yes And just so you know, I’ you for the inforh it was clear he didn’t take her threats seriously, he said, "She died of starvation"

Bride heard the underlyingof his words Her mother had refused to eat As she clutched her stoainst his body I was loved, after all, she thought The revelation soothed the hurt she’d been harboring, but also brought a wealth of despair HerBride away

"I want to remember her," she said softly

"I’m afraid I cannot help you with that She didn’t just bury your memories; she erased the Why didn’t she just erase the memory of you from the people here? There are too rown She would have had to remove their memories every day for the rest of your life One day, she would have missed someone, and word of your presence would have leaked"

She splayed her arms "If I have all abilities, shouldn’t i be able to erase memories? Shouldn’t I be able to stop time?"

"One would think so" He arched a brow "You can’t?" She shook her head, wondering if she’d been sent away for nothing Then she thought of the thorns and the fire

The place that hurt her to even brush withemotion The place that held many other powers

No, she hadn’t been sent away for nothing

McKell rubbed two fingers over his stubbled jaw "Your father was able to suppress the powers of others Perhaps he suppressed some of your more destructive abilities to help you cope with life above"

Her father A man she couldn’t even picture, but ahad her sing back a whimper

"What other abilities are there?" Devyn asked

"Mind reading, for one, which just happens to be the king’s ability"

"Mind reading isn’t destructive," she said It was cool Would have been cooler if she could actually do it Maybe one day

"But then again," McKell said with a shrug, "perhaps not all nefreti can do all things We’ve never had the chance to study them because they are destroyed so early Besides the first few, of course, who showed us their pohen they slayed the last king and disappeared Well, and Fiona, but she lived on her own forherself And now that we know of her, we cannot catch her"

Fiona Bride wanted to ives the Only a nefreti can do it You and youras I and my army passed You were so excited to see me that you ran toin your place You swept the rest of the way to ether in my arms Too many people saw, or ould have simply hidden you down here and claimed you had died"

Oh, the horror her raph of her?"

"So she oas burned" A sudden blast of hate boined her iven up her only child to save her, watching all of her belongings being destroyed "Your king --"

"Thought he was protecting his family," McKell interjected before she could threaten the bastard’s life "He is not a bad man, Bride Neither am I"

No, he wasn’t Except for his treatment of food, that is Well, and his bitch-slap to Devyn

"Darling," Devyn said, his tone pure sugar, "he’s trying to court you Isn’t that sweet I, of course, know you’re too s clear, yet thicker than saliva, dripped froood on See what happens"

"I will, thank you"