“Nesy. At last. It has to be her. Who else can make Aydan smile? Make me smile.”

“She smiles and snuggles into me as we wait for our table. I inhale her scent. Vanilla and something else. Something different. Smokey almost. Sexy. It drives me crazy with need and I have to move away while I can.”

“Do it, Nesy. Say the words. Pierce my heart. Send me to the Abyss and end my suffering. Please. I won’t stop you.”

“A pang of deep longing ripples through me. I’m torn between my promise to send Aydan to the Abyss and my need to keep him safe. The opposing forces fragment what remains of my mind, breaking me down once again.”

“My thoughts war. Part of me needs to protect her; part of me wants something else. Something vile. Wrong.”

“She’s here, in front of me. Just my luck. I obsessed about her all night, working out a plan to find her and take her soul. After the disappointment in my kill last night, I knew nothing would satisfy me until I had her.Only her.”

“She will assume it was me, assume that I have come to make good on my promises. One of us should.”