Double-Edged Blade

"Charlotte!"

Sarah was the first one to rush toward her, wrapping her small arms around Charlotte's, pinning them to her sides with so much strength it was hard for Charlotte to breathe. Apparently no one took any heed to her warning. Hadn't she said she didn't want to be followed?

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Charlotte didn't quite know how to respond. The immediate answer was yes, he had. And she couldn't believe that either. The line between what was good and what was evil was slowly becoming so hard to see now. Things she never thought would happen to her in the care of her Vampire-her guardian, her love-were suddenly becoming reality. All of her worst nightmares were resurrected, clawing their way out of her psyche. This time, it had been Valek's own jealous mind, clear from the cloud of thirst, driving him, pushing him as far as he'd gone. She glanced up from her miserable thoughts, knowing that Sarah was waiting for an answer, but she fell short of what to say. She glanced back toward the clearing. Nikolai was there at the edge, carefully hiding in a shadow with Ears perched on his shoulder. The young man stared back at her, fear clearly splashed on his face. Maybe he really had done something to provoke Valek. Instantly, her mind flicked to that old saying about people who live in glass houses.

"Nikolai," Charlotte called out to him. He began walking-no, jogging-toward her. From just behind him, she could see the vague, dark form of Valek standing there like a stone statue. He flinched when she called out for the other boy.

"What exactly did you do?" she asked breathlessly as he finally got to her at the edge of the forest. It became harder to breathe. Her inhalations broke in dry sobs, and she couldn't determine if it was because she was freezing or if the panic had begun to set in, that Valek might actually be everything the Elves feared he was. She said a silent prayer that Nikolai would confess he'd really done something to provoke Valek's actions.

The boy's face contorted into panic. "You can't trust him, Charlotte. I know you think you know him but you don't! Somebody from The Parliament came looking for me weeks ago. They spoke to me. They told me I had to find you before he did." He blinked nervously, shifting his eyes away from her face and back again. "You were shivering. I...was only pulling up the covers."

Something pricked at the corner of Charlotte's intuition and told her that probably wasn't all he'd done. What was he talking about? The Parliament? Why would they seek someone like Nikolai? There'd been a weird chemistry between Nikolai and Valek from the beginning. What did he know that she didn't? And she knew Valek too well, anyway. There must have been something else that provoked him. He would never fall that far into desperation on his own, no matter what kind of monster he was or was not. Awful, dark memories flashed of her days spent in the house, locked in the room with Lusian. She closed her eyes tightly over the painful visions.

"Listen." Nikolai spoke softly, pulling her out of her reverie. "I don't know what Valek is to you exactly, but it doesn't seem to me like you're in such a healthy situation."

Ears landed softly on his shoulder, as if in agreement. Who was he to judge if she were in a healthy situation or not? She frowned at him.

She turned, wincing at Sarah, who was biting her lip, apparently fighting back whether or not to voice her own agreement. Charlotte turned away from them again, and commenced her sulking stalk through the midnight. She didn't want to hear what they had to say.

Her boots packed the wet snow beneath her, her teeth snapping annoyingly against each other in shivering, chattering fits of nerves and frost. She knew this rather brash decision might cause her to catch her death quicker. But what was the point when she was already dying? She just needed to be alone with her thoughts for a moment. She walked until the tall evergreens began to grow up densely around her.

Hugging Valek's coat tighter around her shoulders, she pushed on, her breath forming in blue clouds of mist in front of her face. She no longer recognized Valek. It seemed he was changing before her eyes-becoming more and more violent and guarded. Then again, she barely recognized the monster she herself was becoming. Things were beginning to seem a lot like that nightmare she'd had only a few, long weeks ago.

"I'm so sorry," a voice murmured sadly from somewhere behind her.

She stopped, sighing, and spun to see his tall, crooked shadow looming in between two pines. The moon was out, glinting in the glacier blue of the impossible color of his eyes-the only detail on his face Charlotte could make out as she squinted through the frosty darkness.

"Here."

The lovely velvet voice attempted to slay her right where she stood. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he moved close to her. Her blood warmed under her skin and pooled in her face. Maybe it was the fury. Maybe it was because she still so desperately needed him to be close to her. Suddenly, a hand the color and temperature of the surrounding snow reached forward, landing lightly on her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open to find Valek bent slightly in front of her as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He reminded her so perfectly of the surrounding trees. Tall, slightly crooked, beautiful and ageless, though hundreds of years old. Vampires were eerily good at blending into the background. Even as he touched her, she'd never felt so separate from him. Not when she'd found him in the library with Evangeline. Not when he'd allowed the coven to ration her as though she were nothing but food. Not ever. Again, she felt tears pool in the corners of her eyes. Oh, don't cry, she thought to herself, not now. She squared her shoulders, blinking up at him, clenching her jaw as if to trap any emotion that might escape. She fought to remain a wall of stone in front of him.

"What?" she snapped, with her fists wound.

"Charlotte, please. I don't know what is happening to us." His normally solid voice was cracked and desperate. She blinked at him, not used to the desolate sound. "I am not used to you this way. It feels like you're slipping right through my fingers. When you came back to me, Lottie, the feeling wasn't at all the same," he lamented. "Everything seemed...different." Charlotte never remembered seeing him in so many pieces before. "It seemed like you didn't want to be near me. It seemed like you'd rather be nearer to him." He growled the last word, his bright blue eyes sinking a few shades darker.

"Because he didn't leave me, Valek!" Charlotte wailed. Surprised by her own tenacity, as she gauged his reaction. When he didn't speak, words continued to launch themselves like arrows. "He never hurt me!" Valek closed his eyes. "He's neutral territory. He's safe. You're not safe, Valek. As far back as I can remember, you've never been safe for me." Her tears were free-falling now. No matter how many of them she seemed to swallow, there was nothing she could do to dam them up. "You've always been a threat to my sanity, my life, or my heart. Being close to you is like surviving a battle for my life. I'm either hiding or dodging the next blade before it slashes my throat. I can't do this anymore." She wanted to drop to her knees, but steadily she held herself up. Her breathing was ragged as she leaned against her own exasperation. The last place she wanted to be was in his arms-no, maybe that was the first place she wanted to be. There was no deciding. Her head was spinning.

Valek stepped back, clearly reeling from her ultra-candid admission. "Please, don't hold anything back, Charlotte," he whispered, aggrieved. His eyes stayed slanted and guarded.

Was he actually angry with her for finally speaking her mind? Well, fine. She bit down hard on her bottom lip, knowing her words cut him deep, but he needed to hear it. How much longer was she supposed to keep this charade up-the charade that she was fine with being tossed around like a rag doll? Surviving one attack before coming back up for air. Surviving another, then back up for another breath. By now, she was absolutely enervated, sick of drowning. Her body was wracked with the notion that Sarah's magic was finally failing her and that she could be dying. Done. Lamenting, she shook her head at him. "I wish I could keep holding things back from you, Valek, but I need a break," she murmured, swatting at a fresh set of tears from her face. Her cheeks burned with the thought of looking weak in front of him. She was so tired of being the helpless damsel. She clenched her fists, trying to manifest some sort of power from them, like Aiden always had. She came up empty.

Valek's gaze scathed her, his skin looking more ashen than usual from underneath the silken strings of his long hair. Her dark angel had fallen very far, it seemed. Her heart quickened in her chest as she melted under his smoldering, blue stare, unable to peel her eyes away from him. Where was she to go if she didn't want to be with him? How long would she even survive if she wasn't under his constant care? Her mind continued to swim, though she held her stance.

"May I touch you?" he asked abruptly, causing her breath to hitch in her throat.

She glanced down at his claws wavering apprehensively at his sides. She struggled with the thought of them on her again, as forgiveness seemed to be a country away. Moments of silence went by. She wasn't sure how long she stayed staring at him as she thought about his request. Valek shifted on his feet, and she could see he was growing uncomfortable as he waited for her answer.

"Please," he choked out.

She blinked, her voice cracking. "I'm not sure it would do any good right now." She answered honestly, blinking back the fresh wave of tears that was forming. Guilt and bile mixed in her throat as she spoke, the taste thick and sour. How could she admonish him so brutally without wanting to throw herself at him the next moment begging for forgiveness? Strangely, however, she'd never felt stronger.

Valek straightened himself, regarding her with what she was sure was meant to be an impassive stare, though the pain that bubbled just behind his stony façade was apparent. "Allow me this one opportunity for retribution, Charlotte, and then I'll let you make your decision. You can either stay with me," he swallowed, wincing as he did, "or go with him."

What? Was he planning on going rogue, just leaving the others to fend for themselves? "What about Sarah, and the others?" Charlotte's voice broke.

"I'll allow them to make the same choice. As it seems I haven't been allowing certain people to think for themselves most recently," he murmured darkly. "We keep talking about freedom, so here it is."

"Valek." The muscles in her throat clenched as she said his name. "Nikolai is just a friend. I barely know him."

"Yes, I am aware of that. But your feelings for me have altered. I can sense that, no matter how you try to conceal it. And it's my own undoing, so I blame no one but myself. I am simply allowing you to explore other...opportunities."

Charlotte only nodded, unsure of what else to say.

She watched motionless as he seemed to glide toward her, gracefully though the shallow hills and valleys of the fresh snow. Though his boots sank deep into the trenches of it, he failed to waver. She ground her teeth together, knowing that unless Valek ever changed his mind about making her one of them, she would never know such dexterity-such grace. A surge of envy twinged through her less-than-capable extremities. Now she felt it-the thing everyone had been trying to tell her for so many years. Predator and prey. In that moment, as he slinked toward her like some lethal, stalking predator, she finally understood. She shouldn't have ever survived that first night when he'd found her. He should have ended it there. She couldn't fight the thought, in this moment, that her entire existence had been a mistake.

Carefully, slowly, as if she might disintegrate under the strong, marble pads of his fingers, he lifted his hand to caress her cheek. She didn't move as his cool contact sent shivers shooting down her back. His light graze trailed down her damp face to the line of her jaw, to the column of her throat. Blinking, he retracted his touch and waited expectantly. So did she. To her utter shock, she didn't feel much except for the undeniable chill. Was it simply the weather, or complete emptiness? What had he thought was going to happen? She stood in front of him, feeling dead. Cocking her head to one side, her mouth went dry with the words she had for him. Her lower lip twitched with the promise of fresh tears.

Valek must have heard her mind, because he took another step back from her, his expression positively anguished. "So, this is it." He shrugged casually, though his face carried an expression of utter panic. "I have absolutely ruined you."

A string of red slipped from the corner of his eye. His mouth pressed into a flat, grim line. His brows furrowed as he neglected to bat the tear away. Charlotte could not bring herself to lift the weight of her arms to embrace him, for they seemed heavier than lead. The love she knew still existed was buried so deep below her surface, encased by Lusian's control, Aiden's jealousy, and most importantly, Valek's carelessness. She was as numb as the winter around her. Though her heart clenched to see him this way, she just couldn't move herself forward toward him.

"All of the awful things I've let happen, and this is the consequence," he muttered disparagingly.

"It just seems to have happened that way," Charlotte whispered, dropping her gaze to her knotted fingers. Touching her-what did he think that was going to prove? It wouldn't undo the damage. She surprised herself, clearly taking no prisoners. Who was this girl controlling her mouth and movements? She was positively stunned by her callousness. Stunned, but not yet totally sorry for it. She needed, finally, to be strong for herself.

"Lottie, I can't begin to explain myself. If I ever do find that mirror, I'm not even sure I'll be able to peer into its reflection because I loathe myself so completely."

This was news to her. He was still planning on going after the mirror? Still planning to continue his mission to the Dark City? Still planning to save her? Even after she'd refused him?

"Of course." He answered her thought. "Charlotte, I understand your hatred toward me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let anything happen to you." He looked positively wounded. "My feelings are unchanging. I told you that."

"I don't hate you." She spoke calculatedly to the ground beneath her. She couldn't look at him, fearing that if she did, it might cause her to fall to pieces and diminish her strength.

"Charlotte!"

She and Valek turned to see Edwin racing in on the back of Mr. Třinozka, pained and worried expressions painting both of their faces. Nikolai and Sarah quickly followed behind on the backs of Beta and Jiri. Could none of them ever give her a moment's peace, just to process her situation? Charlotte sighed exasperatedly.

"Charlotte, come back to the cottage. Please?" Sarah wrinkled her forehead in plea, though her tone was quite demanding.

Is that what she was calling it-the cottage? Charlotte quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm okay, guys. Valek and I were just talking," she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing once at him. He remained stiff and tear-stained. Actually, he'd been talking while she'd torn his heart to shreds, she reminded herself. Finally, she started to let her emotions get the better of her as the impending lump hardened in her throat.

Abruptly, she heard what she was sure was Ears cawing in the distance, before sweeping down through the canopy abruptly to land on a branch just above the startled group. Charlotte flinched as the tawny falcon cawed again. She frowned at Nikolai, whose eyes were locked with a curious expression on the bird, his jaw set in a hard clench. Ears made another vicious sound before spreading his wings wide. Charlotte watched in astonishment and horror as the bird's long feathers seemed to transform, disappearing into a pale flesh that eventually sprouted into muscular arms. The bird's beak folded back on the sickeningly familiar face of Aiden Price as the tawny feathers became his messy, copper hair.

Leaping down from the tree branch, Aiden landed gracefully with his metal armored boots in the snow. The odd little metal vest that had protected the bird's body was now spread out wide over Aiden's chest, making Charlotte wonder if that armor held the key to Aiden's new transformational power. She never remembered him having that ability before. She winced at the overpowering sight of him. His smug expression and pointy ears were all too similar, but several things about him were strange. His complexion looked gray, and similar to the tone of Valek's. His eyes, once an emerald shade, now matched Valek's perfectly. And there was something else-something the naked eye couldn't see, but it was something Charlotte sensed nonetheless. It was a new, scarier, intimidating quality that seemed to make the shadow before his feet deeper and more eclipsing against the snow. It seemed to make his stance broader and the peaks and valleys of his chiseled features harsher.

"Hello," he whispered to her, his voice frosty and somehow, completely unfamiliar.

"Aiden?" She winced, feeling her heart catch in her throat. She needed to stare for just a few more moments to be sure it was really him standing before her.

"Valek, watch it!" Sarah shrieked just in time for Charlotte to turn and see Valek dodge Nikolai as he lunged at him with a wooden stake. Nikolai fell clumsily to the snow, twisting around on his back to see Valek looming over him, eyes black, ready for the kill.

Charlotte's heart hammered in her ears as she tried to register what was happening around her. Was Aiden really standing before her? She knew this day had been coming, but hadn't thought it would be quite so soon. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, her heart beating so violently, it was almost painful. She could feel her own pulse all the way down in her fingertips.

Aiden rushed toward her. Once again, everything was moving so slowly. As she felt the chill of his flesh wrap around her body, she looked to see Valek with one fist clutching Nikolai by the collar of his shirt, the other stretched out, reaching for her. He looked beautiful and blurry against the heavy fall of snow, an image of darkness against the clean, sparkling white. She finally felt that familiar ache for him. Realizing the enormity of the mistake she'd made only a few moments ago, she wished she could take it all back.

"It seems you've made the right choice, this time, darling," Aiden growled with his lips pressed against her ear. His teeth grazed her earlobe and she wondered distantly if he'd also developed fangs. A shot of fear darted down her spine. Breathing became more difficult than ever as she found it harder to keep her knees locked.

"Aiden," she whispered back with all of the strength she could muster, "I'm dying. So take me. Do whatever it is you want to do, but please don't hurt him."

"I wouldn't dream of it, angel." His laugh was almost a bark in her ear and she flinched at the sound of it. "However, there is something that needs discussing first. Do you see that boy right there?" Aiden's extended index claw indicated Nikolai, restrained and panting against Valek, who had him pinned against himself by the throat. It was as if Valek was threatening Aiden. Nikolai's life for Charlotte's. Tit for tat, though she knew who was going to win. "That boy is like you. Human. But he possesses a great deal of power-abilities he had far before I got to him because he was born with the gene inside him. Born with the dark magic." Aiden's words sounded alien in her ear. She didn't recognize this person. He wasn't even the same Elf that had stood beside her in the chapel of the Regime, when things had gotten really bad. He was altogether different-as if he'd gone mad. "He is this way, because he is your Valek's great-grandson."

Charlotte's breath hitched in her throat as her heart dropped to her bowels. But how could that be?

"Lies!" Valek spewed at Aiden. "You are feeding her lies!"

Even from her distance, and the blurriness of her vision, she could see Valek's eyes wash red before new blood tears of his own began to fall.

Aiden's chuckle rumbled low in her ear. "Am I, Valek? Charlotte knows about the wife you used to have, doesn't she?" Charlotte immediately recalled her nightmare from weeks ago and the contents of her stomach started to ascend. "You remember your human wife, don't you, Valek? The one you belonged to before you abandoned her for a new life with Francis?" Aiden spat his name as if it were the name of the most lethal poison. "Francis turned you, and you faked your death to explain your odd disappearance from her life."

How does Aiden know all of this?

"It is all here." He held up a rolled parchment in his free hand for the group to see. "A document given to Nikolai by the Parliament. It lists every gruesome detail in explanation for what he is. A certificate of belonging. An induction into our world so he might finally understand why he is what he is." He explained in a valiant speech as though he were unmasking the true villain. "And then you watched from a distance as your wife got sicker and sicker. Slowly dying before your eyes. And in your last, desperate attempt to save her life, you failed. Got carried away, didn't you?"

What was he talking about? Valek roared his anguished response.

"You didn't know she was pregnant when you tried to change her, did you, Valek?"

"Yes, I did!" Valek wailed, his tears staining the snow beneath him red. He released Nikolai, who tumbled to the ground, scampering away from him. Charlotte felt sick, like she wanted to collapse, but Aiden kept her pressed steadfast to his chest. "I didn't care. I just didn't want to live in a world without her!"

"What happened when you tried to save her, Valek?" Aiden continued to prod with feigned politeness, his head cocked to one side. Charlotte could hear the amusement play, the malevolent grin in his words.

"I was too new. I didn't know how strong I would be. I tried," Valek managed to choke up. He looked desperately and finally to Charlotte as if he'd just admitted the darkest secret of his lifetime. She knew he probably had.

"There's only one thing he needs to do to become complete. To finally realize who he really is." Aiden's tone dropped a few octaves as he drew closer to his point. "Nikolai, the time has come to take your first human. Valek and his band of fiends were responsible for taking your family. Here's your chance for revenge. Do what needs to be done." With that, he tossed Charlotte forward, sending her to her hands and knees into the snow.

She landed, the wet and cold sending a stinging pain up her arms. Mr. Třinozka or Sarah must have attempted to go to her, because she heard Aiden send a whirling ball of fire forward, and a screech. She glanced up from beneath her lashes to make sure no one had gotten maimed.

"If anyone attempts to help her, you, too, will perish. Valek, this is your punishment and my solace. Charlotte will finally know peace, so try not to be too anguished over this." Aiden chuckled again.

Nikolai got to his feet, lethargically leaning to one side as he gazed down at Charlotte. Even in his casual stance, he looked threatening. They regarded each other for a few long moments, Charlotte not daring to take her eyes off him, knowing that once she did, he would surely lunge. So this was his angle. An eye for an eye. Because of something he thought Valek had done, he was going to take her life. She distantly wondered if Valek really was responsible for killing his family. How could she have not seen this before? He was curious when they'd first stumbled upon him in the forest.

With her mind, she spoke to Valek, wanting him to be the only one to hear what she was about to say. Don't you dare try and save me this time. I don't want you to. I want you to live long enough to finally defeat Aiden once and for all. It's my turn to fight the only way I know how. I love you.

This was it. The final moments. Her world spiraled as her heart thudded violently against her sternum, as if it wanted to crawl right out of her mouth. She needed to keep herself steady, brace herself for death. Slowly, she tried to remain undetected as she reached for the letter opener sheathed in the tie of her dress. Maybe she couldn't kill off Aiden, and maybe she couldn't live long enough to save herself, but she'd at least die knowing she'd tried-that she'd fought. She steadied her breathing and dropped her gaze, waiting for Nikolai to make his move.

"No," was the next thing she heard, followed by several tiny gasps. Charlotte looked up to see silver tears glistening off Sarah's pale cheeks, but that wasn't where the sound had come from. Her gaze slowly moved across the gathering and back to the most unfamiliar face. Nikolai stood valiantly with his arms folded across his chest.

"What did you say to me?" Aiden's voice was a low growl behind where she knelt.

She inhaled very slowly, remaining frozen in her place just in case.

"No, Aiden!" Nikolai growled back, tossing his arms to his sides like an errant teenager. "I'm not going to kill Charlotte because of some screwed-up, deep-seated feud you have!"

Oh, no. Shut up. You are so going to die!

"You told me we'd find him," Nikolai pointed to Valek, who by now was a shredded-to-pieces-shell-of-a-man wreck in the snow, "and kill him for taking the lives of my family."

Valek blinked, finally coming awake from his emotional coma. "I did no such thing," he murmured, looking square at Nikolai. "I would never slaughter an entire family of people. That is absolutely wasteful and murderous."

"Except for mine." Aiden slapped his chest like he was beating a war drum. "Right, Valek? My family was expendable!"

"That was different, Aiden! You and your family are an evident threat to our lives!"

"This just doesn't seem like the kind of deal I signed up for anymore." Nikolai shrugged apathetically.

Where did this kid find his tenacity? Charlotte thought with her eyebrow quirked.

"I'm not even sure seeking revenge," he held up air quotes with the last word, "is really my kind of thing, anyway."

By now, Aiden was positively fuming. Charlotte could hear his breathing become erratic, feel the tremors of his anger, as they were almost tangible in the air.

"Enough! I am tired of this!" he roared, but Charlotte sensed an edge of desperation in his voice. "I am the rightful ruler of the Regime! I am the rightful ruler of this whole, damned universe!" He was spewing now, his voice shaky. In that brief moment, Charlotte heard her friend, the Elf she used to know, the needy schoolboy who was used to getting what he wanted, somewhere very deep inside Aiden. "I'll kill her myself, right before all of you, so you never question my authority again!"

Aiden lunged at her before she could think, grabbing her by the longest tendrils of her hair and yanking her back against his chest. His hand moved swiftly to cup the bottom of her chin, pulling so that her throat was exposed. In a brief moment, she peered at Valek, who shifted forward in an attempt to save her, but Aiden halted him with a fiery blast from his fist. It didn't hit Valek directly, though it threatened to singe his overcoat.

No! Please don't help me!

Aiden reared up. Just before he struck her throat, she plunged the letter opener into her own chest, followed by a louder chorus of gasps and cries. She clutched the hilt of it, the feeling of the metal in her body numbing and almost...heavy. It was painful, but something rang out, salient, over the pain. She recognized it as peace. Finally, there was peace. And she had succeeded in her plan being undetected, because Aiden's new fangs sank into her as well, taking from her greedily and vigorously. It was not the slow, sensual onslaught she was used to from the Vampires. It was murderous and filled with the feeling of revenge.

This was a different sort of desire. All he wanted to do was kill her, and kill her quickly. Her appendages started to go numb and tingly. It was perfect-the cardinal rule of a Vampire was never to drink from a ruptured heart, and her blood was spilling from the wound at her chest as fast as he was taking it from her throat. She'd succeeded in tapping directly into her heart. The snow beneath her was turning a brilliant red. In no time, Aiden was going to feel the effects and either get very sick or die himself. She smiled exhaustedly at her own cunning.

"Charlotte!" she heard Valek wail. "What have you done?"

As if on cue, Aiden pulled himself away, releasing her. He stumbled backward against the trunk of the tree nearest him, his breathing harsh and staggered. He clawed at his throat as he looked up in anguish to the sky, grainy cries slipping from his gaping lips.

"Charlotte," he croaked, mirroring Valek's words, "What have you done? You taste so...putrid." He tried to spit.

Charlotte gazed up toward Valek, whose wide eyes revealed that he had just become privy to her plan. There was even a tiny strain of amusement glinting under the sheer horror.

"You taste so rotten." He choked and hacked, but to no avail. He'd already consumed too much of her.

Charlotte's joints were stiff and heavy. She could hardly feel the chill of the snow beneath her legs anymore, so numb now. So this was death. She'd never expected it to be so easy, like a thick blanket being draped over you. Once again, she recognized the feeling of peace. She must have dozed for a few seconds, because when she opened her eyes again, Sarah was next to her, holding her up-cradling her. Though her vision was still blurry, she could see the anguish painted on her best friend's face. She wanted to tell her not to worry-to stop crying, but her jaw stayed wired, too heavy to move.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Sarah howled desperately at someone. "Now's the time! Change her!" Her voice was cracked and broken as she pleaded her final argument, one last time.

Valek was suddenly there, kneeling in front of her. His arms wrapped around her delicately, pulling her into his lap, cradling her gently. Her head lolled to one side, leaning on his shoulder. He hushed her quietly as he smoothed the hair by her ear and hummed her familiar childhood lullaby. Charlotte discovered that she could manage to smile.

"That's it, baby," he crooned to her, "you did very well, my love."

Is he dead?

"I do not know, darling. He's gone away, though. Disappeared. He will not last long."

Valek, am I a hero?

"You've always been my hero, Lottie. Always."

"Valek!" Sarah continued to sob. "Change her, please!"

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