“I am not going to lie for you any more.” Her voice was steady. Her gaze did not waver. She took a deep breath.

He looked up from his task and met her gaze with a smile, “Are you certain that I can’t do anything to change your mind?”

Her resolve took a detour as her mind searched the data files, through everything and found nothing worth repeating. “No, not this time. I’m not going to sacrifice another shard of my soul so that you can continue this guise of purity. Everything your hands touch turns to filth.”

“Amanda, my angel,” he whispered, “you’ll deny me my salvation if you leave now. Can your immortal soul justify that?”

A tear in the corner of Amanda’s eye betrayed her. She looked at the old man, but didn’t see the scheming master that she knew before. Instead she saw something pathetic and hideous, like her own reflection.

He answered her silence, “I see. Then go and leave me to finish. I absolve you of your sins. Is that what you desire?”

“Desire, what’s that?” She turned.