Sentinal's Tear (Book #1 in Requiem Series) [formally titled Lacrimosa]

Chapter 18

Aydan

Azza expects my allegiance. Demands it. But things are different for me now. The mere thought of taking his vows fills me with disgust.

I can't go through with this. Not anymore.

I think of the Seer, Lori. There is something familiar about her too. Something that pulls on the fringes of my memories. I reach for the fragmented pieces of that former life, desperate to unlock the riddle of who the Seer really is, but I can't. Her presence binds me to Azza forever. He won't stop now. Not until I've been branded. Not until I've fully become the Beast.

This was always the price for my vengeance so long ago. But now that it's time, now that the Seer has been found, I'm torn.

I don't want this life anymore.

I want Nesy.

She reminds me of everything I've lost. Everything I still have to lose. If only I could find a way out of this fate.

My mind swims in the possibilities, a drop of hope blooming in my chest. Maybe I can find my way back to Celestium.

The Beast claws through me, shredding any possibility for a different life. My eyes water as every death I've caused streams past.

It's too late.

There have been so many lives ruined. So many atrocities committed.

Hope withers and dies and I'm resigned to the disgust of who I am and the only option left to me—

A life spent as Azza's slave.

A life filled with killing.

A life as...

the Beast.