Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

Annabella had been betrayed before — backstabbed, cheated, broken, hurt — and yet it always came as a shock, like a blade to the gut, cutting straight to her heart. It shouldn't have surprised her. It shouldn't have hurt. It shouldn't have rendered her speechless.

She should've known, should've known, should've known. Betrayal always came from those one trusted, and Annabella wondered why she had grown to trust anyone at all. The foolishness of it stood before her, swords pointed at them, eyes remorseless. They were here on a mission. They were here to kill Todd.

Todd. It had been him all along.

"You won't touch him," she whispered, rising to her feet to stand beside Todd.

"Oh, but I already have," the Veiled Lady said with a laugh. "I've seen his mind. I know his weaknesses — as I have seen yours. You were so desperate to find a courageous leader that you never realized your appointed was beside you all along." The Lady shook her head at Todd. "I will admit, the ploy was well done. Who would have expected the Deliverer was the son all along? No one, not when the Deliverer was weak. Not when he was merely a child thrown into a war he never asked for."

The sword Todd held began to glow red as if it had just come out of a raging fire. Annabella had seen this power before, but it was no less surprising now. He seemed to be performing it on command. "Let's finish this," Todd said, his voice darker than she'd ever heard it.

The Veiled Lady smiled. "Fool. I've just gotten started."

They moved as if one in mind, rushing each other at the same time. Their swords connected, and Annabella found herself thrown to the ground. She gasped, looking up. The young man known as Brandon had also been thrown to the ground, but Todd and the Veiled Lady still stood, swords flashing, both glowing. Todd's sword had not harmed hers, but hers hadn't thrown him back. She attacked in a flurry of motions that dizzied Annabella, but somehow Todd kept up, blocking every strike.

Brandon pushed himself to his feet and smirked down at her. "Care for a duel, Princess?"

She suddenly hated his crooked smile. With a yell, she kicked at him, and he stepped back as she scrambled to her feet and charged. He blocked her thrust, knocking her sword to the side. She recovered, parrying his strike and backing up a step from the force of it. She pressed in, pouring anger into her blows. Brandon fought her valiantly, smiling — he seemed to be enjoying her fury. With a yell, she shoved him back a step, gaining ground.

Todd cried out, and she glanced over, breathless with fear. He was on the ground, sword in hand, his other clutching a bloody wound in his shoulder.

The Veiled Lady stood over him, her head tilted. "How disappointing. He bleeds like a normal Human."

Annabella yelled, dodging Brandon's stab and jumping away, thrusting her sword at the Veiled Lady. The woman caught it with a hand coated in Athrii.

"Pitiful," she murmured.

A snap exploded in Annabella's mind, and she fell, hitting the ground on her back, gasping as her head pounded in furious pain. She scrambled back, hissing between her teeth as she realized the Veiled Lady still held her sword.

"When will you ever learn?" the Veiled Lady asked. She turned back to Todd. "Things don't happen the same way twice. Your Father will not step in this time. There is no one coming to save you."

'The rings.'

Annabella gasped at the voice in her mind. It was soft and gentle, drawing her attention to the way her father's ring on her chest was growing warm. The one around her finger sizzled in the snow beneath her palm.

Todd staggered to his feet, his breathing ragged as he lifted his sword. "Then do it," he challenged. "Kill me, Jessica."

"As you wish." She rushed him, wielding both swords, and he threw himself to the side, hitting the ground and rolling back to his feet out of her reach. His sword scraped the ground, sizzling in the snow.

Annabella crawled away as Brandon approached her. Her head ached as she frantically worked her mother's ring off of her finger and clenched it in her fist. It was warm, reminding her of Matthew. What would Matthew and Stephanie do when they found out they had been betrayed?

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Stephanie had been with Brandon. Oh, Matthew...

'Where you ask, it will take you.'

"Don't do this," she panted, shoving herself away from Brandon's reach. Todd and the Veiled Lady fought at his back, and he hardly seemed worried.

"I'd apologize, but that'd be repetitive," Brandon said softly. He raised his sword.

"No!" Todd threw himself at Brandon, swinging his sword at his neck.

Brandon ducked. The Veiled Lady swung the pommel of Annabella's sword at Todd, smashing him in the side. Todd staggered, turning back to her, wildly trying to block her thrust at his chest. He managed to knock it aside just slightly but took the tip in his side. Gasping, he staggered backwards before crumpling to his knees as he grabbed his side. His hand came away bloody. He stared at it and shuddered, his face contorted in pain and horror.

Annabella was frozen in terror. We're going to die.

The Veiled Lady tossed Annabella's sword away carelessly and stepped up behind Todd. She grabbed his hair, pulling his head back and pressing her blade to his neck.

"No! Wait!" Annabella shrieked. She scrambled to her feet, throwing herself at them. Brandon caught her with a strong arm, yanking her back against his chest as he lifted his sword to her neck. She froze, clutching the ring in her hand desperately.

'Where you ask, it will take you.'

"Don't," she begged, tears springing into her eyes as she stared at Todd in wide-eyed panic. "Please."

"Oh, darling," the Veiled Lady crooned, brushing the hair away from Todd's forehead. He was still, jaw clenched, breathing heavily. The Lady's touch made him wince. "How painful it must be to love something death can touch." She lifted the sword a bit, forcing Todd's chin higher. "Any last words, Prince?"

"I do," Annabella blurted out. The Veiled Lady looked up at her, frowning as if annoyed that Annabella had ruined the moment. Annabella seized her chance. "Todd, remember something for me."

He found her gaze, his breath calming as he held it. "What?"

She clenched her fist tightly. The ring burned. "Michael." With that, she opened her hand and tossed the ring. It twirled through the air, a golden glint of light. The Veiled Lady saw it too late; she moved her sword to knock it aside, but she missed and the ring hit Todd's chin. Todd's startled look was the last thing Annabella saw before he was suddenly consumed with golden light. The Veiled Lady fell back with a yell as Todd disintegrated into brilliant golden sparks. They blinked out before they hit the snow.

The rings had been magical.

Todd was gone.

Annabella gasped, grimacing as Brandon's grip on her tightened; he pressed the blade against her neck, and she felt it slice skin. "What'd you do?" he demanded in confusion. "What happened to him?"

The Veiled Lady slowly rose to her feet, dusting snow off of her dress. She seemed stunned for a moment as she stared at the place where Todd had been. His sword lay in the snow, the only evidence that he had even existed. Fury consumed her beautiful, perfect face. "Inthrii," she snarled.

"What?" Brandon sounded as confused as Annabella felt.

The Veiled Lady cleared the space between them in two strides, tossing aside her sword and drawing out her dagger once more. She grabbed Annabella's chin in a bruising grip. "Look at that," she murmured, her voice soft and deadly. "You saved your betrothed. How romantic. How heart-wrenching. Death escapes him now, but not for long."

Annabella grimaced as the woman's nails pierced her skin. "You won't kill him," she forced out between gritted teeth. "The Immortal One won't let you."

The Lady smiled devilishly. "And yet He's letting me kill you."

Annabella had no time to think before the blade entered her stomach, slicing through skin and tissue, creating a pain so blinding she could barely think. She choked, her father's ring hot on the skin of her chest. Anywhere, she thought frantically. Anywhere but here.

The Veiled Lady's devilish smiled turned into a look of fury as Annabella felt herself begin to disintegrate. "No!" The woman lifted her dagger and plunged it at Annabella's heart, but Annabella didn't feel it. She was fading, disappearing, slipping out of Brandon's grip and falling through darkness.

She didn't know where she was when she materialized. A cracked marble floor met her fluttering eyes. Charred, burned-out walls rose around her like gravestones, weeping of destruction and pain. She crumbled to her knees, struggling to stay upright. The Lady and Brandon were gone, but the terrible pain in her chest wasn't. She lifted her trembling hand, touching shaky fingers to the blood bubbling from the hole in her abdomen the dagger had left. Blood. Pain.

She was fading again. Fast. Darkness clouded in at the edges of her vision as she slumped over, hitting the cold ground hard on her side and rolling onto her back. She fought to breathe, choking for each gasp of air. Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. She squeezed them shut.

Forever you'll be safe.

She fought, but her strength failed. Darkness called her away.