09/02/2026 12:50

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bed and climbed and it seemed as though he had walked up the stairs for hours, whensuddenly he spied a sliver of light ahead. Flung us out into the room and turned my Mexican standoff into an orgy. He walked us forward, toward the kneeling vampire and what was left of the person that we both loved. Everyone in Musette's party matched the table, which meant that that, too, had been something they negotiated.

I was expecting to feel Belle's waves under my hand, but Belle wasn't here, not really. Come, ma petite, come let us meet our guests. But the ardeur had been denied longer than I'd ever denied it, and it was like a force of nature, a storm that broke over us, washed away Jean-Claude's clothes and what was left of mine. 143V A STAB OF MERRIMENT.