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Rachel turned away from him, dropping to her knees next to Caradoc. "Most people might call you mad," she said softly. Derek made no reply, but she could feel waves of frustration, anger, fear, rolling off of him. She did not recall the transformation of Derek Dobbs. Much as she had tried, Rachel had never been able to recover the memories that had been stolen from her. The Derek she most easily recalled was not a war-hardened Hit-wizard that had lost his fiancée, but a carefree boy just on the cusp of manhood, starting out on a career he resented having to join. She found the present Derek infinitely more tolerable, but there was a darkness in him that did not allow her to predict his future actions. "Why is it you've brought me here, exactly? Surely for more than identifying a body. To absolve you of the act you're about to commit? Stop you, perhaps. To give you my blessing? To aid you? Or to report you."

Derek breathed in, a noise that sounded strangely like a choke, before he answered. "I needed—I just needed someone to know… Someone to see, that this wasn't all—" He trailed off, before adding softly, so softly she nearly didn't hear, "Someone to tell me this couldn't have been all in my head again."

The last time Rachel had ever seen Caradoc, he had left her to gallivant about Europe, deserting her without much more than a word. She'd thought, some day, they might marry, have some kind of life together. It had never come to fruition, and while some of her memories might be missing, she remembered perfectly well how much of the blame she placed on him for the way at least part of her life had turned out.

"You're one of the only people left that I can trust, Rachel," Derek said, a tender sort of desperation in his voice.

She watched the subtle rise and fall of Caradoc's chest, a motion she couldn't say how much longer would go on."Do you remember the last time I saw him?" asked Rachel tonelessly. "Do you remember what it is he did to me?"

"I do." Derek turned to face her, a kneeling, ghostly figure in all white, lit by the moon and stars. "It's another reason why I wanted you here. I cannot risk sentimentality concerning him, it's too dangerous. This must be dealt with efficiently. I know the strain, the danger, it places on you and your family, but Rachel, if I could have done this without involving you, I would have. If I had any other choice—"

"We rarely have a choice that serves us," she murmurred. Her hand rested on Caradoc's chest a moment before trailing away. "So you understand why I have to do this."