[What he should do, is leave. Walk away, and leave her to her ill-advised and childish tantrum. What right did she have to be angry? She's the one who stabbed him in the heart and left him to get devoured by monsters. The Darkling had granted her a gift, a powerful amplifier, and he had granted her wish - take these powers away from me. Had taken the obligation and powers in to himself, to do what had to be done.

He sneers in the dark, lips pulled back from his teeth as he listens. Her voice echoing down the black corridor, and his heart beats stronger than ever.]

Using shadows on darkness is like pouring oil on a fire. I already explained this to you, months ago.

[Was it months? It could have been weeks, or years. Time is slow and too fast, all at once, after so long. The only clear memories imbued with strong emotions and caught like insects in amber, forever unchanging.]

How easily you forget. Did you also forget how willing you were to give yourself to me? [and the warmth seeps back in, hiding the truth in the lies he tells himself.]