“What a hard lesson it must be for you,” she says. “That you can’t have everything you want.” “Want?” he sneers. “Want is for children. If this were want, I would be rid of you by now. I would have forgotten you centuries ago,” he says, a bitter loathing in his voice. “This is need. And need is painful but patient. Do you hear me, Adeline? I need you. As you need me. I love you, as you love me.” She hears the pain in his voice. Perhaps that is why she wants to hurt him worse. He taught her well, to find the weakness in the armor. “But that’s the thing, Luc,” she says, “I don’t love you at
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