Every night my dream's the same
Same old city with a different name
Men are coming to take me away
I don't know why but I know I can't stay

It was too risky to go to the quarry again but Zeref longed to stand over Wally's gravesite. It'd become its own addiction, in a way. He tried to follow it to its root, that thought, that impulse, to understand why he was obsessed with the crime he committed but could not.

He cleaned up the shattered porcelain while Natsu showered for too long. He could only imagine what his brother was thinking. He was like a rat in a cage, scrabbling to find a way out. Zeref was reluctant to admit, he felt the same way. This was a big fucking problem and he didn't know how to make it go away.

Did the receipts from the motel Natsu and Lucy used burn enough, or would the police be able to track it back to them? Did either he or Natsu leave DNA evidence on Wally? What would the police find when they put his body in their pathology lab? Was his blood under Wally's nails, or in the cracks of his knuckles?

Why didn't you wash it all with lye?

He admonished himself. Where the fuck was he going to get lye that night?

Just be cool.

That advice never worked; he didn't know why he thought it would now.

The shower finally turned off and Natsu came out wrapped in a towel. The shadows under his eyes were as deep as trenches.

"It's going to be okay," Zeref said, though he didn't mean it.

"We were careful," Natsu agreed.

It was hard to get away with anything these days.

"Hey," Natsu said, snagging Zeref's wandering attention. "I wanted to ask earlier. My friend Cana's looking for work."

"Good for her."

"She's good with cars and bikes."

"Are we really having this conversation right now?" Zeref asked. Had he fallen asleep and woken up in some weird twilight were his brother pretended everything was alright because he couldn't believe everything was wrong?

"I just promised her I'd ask. We might night have much more time."

"Shut up."

Zeref's words had to affect on Natsu. "Can you just ask your friends?"

Zeref rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt at swiping away the bad. When he opened his eyes, Natsu was still there, staring at him expectantly. Water dripped from his hair and down his chest. He shivered slightly, looking young and scared.

"Okay."

Natsu nodded. "Thanks."

Zeref got the bleach after Natsu closed himself in his room and washed down the apartment again. Every little thing. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom. It still didn't feel good enough and he imagined it never would.

You're always going to be wondering when the police will knock down your door. They had Natsu's fingerprints on file after the last time he was arrested. Which meant that all of this would fall onto him. They'd arrest him again and hound him until he either took all the blame for Wally's demise or flipped on Zeref and then they'd both be in the shit.

He knew his brother well enough to know he was dumb enough to try to play the hero.

"Fuck," he whispered as the reality of the situation started closing in around him. He grabbed his coat and shoved his feet into his boots and locked the apartment behind himself.

Large, sparse flakes of snow were falling, and the roads were abandoned. It made the world seem magical. It made it seem like he was the last man on earth.

It didn't matter where he walked, he couldn't find an easy answer to his problems. He made it back home when the sun was bruising the sky and slept restlessly through most of the next day. Every little noise would wake him—Natsu making coffee and toast, Natsu watching the news again, trying to glean any information he possibly could. Cars speeding by the apartment. They all marched into his dreams, making him believe the police were coming for his brother for a crime he, Zeref, committed.

"I think this is what guilt feels like," he mouthed to the ceiling near three that afternoon. He reached beneath his bed and picked up his revolver, spun the chamber, laid it against his head. He couldn't pull the trigger this time; the truth might die with him if he did.

The next night, he did the same thing, walking and walking until his feet and fingers were frozen, churning over his options. They were few and far between. He could take Jellal's money and try to disappear, him and Natsu, but it would be more difficult now that the police had a body to look at. If the Dragneel brothers just up and left one day, no trace, then the police would be looking their way for sure.

"Damnit."

"Problems?" requested a voice from the shadows.

Zeref squinted in the dark. The cherry of a cigarette burned bright and he could see Jellal's tattooed face.

"Is this what you do for your family? Hide in dark places, following people?"

"I'm a lawyer, actually. This is just a side gig."

Zeref never had much use for jokes. "Don't you sleep?"

"Likewise. This is the second night in a row you've come to my side of town, thought I'd check-in. Considering I gave you all that money to disappear." Jellal puffed on his cigarette agitatedly.

Zeref's throat burned. "We can't." He hated saying that.

"Because poor Wally was found."

"Did you tip them off?"

"No."

Zeref believed him. "But you know who did?"

Jellal dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. "My uncle wants Natsu out of the picture and will do whatever he thinks is necessary to do it. Maiming him turns Lucy against her father, so…" he trailed off, leaving Zeref to fill in the rest.

"He thinks if Natsu gets arrested for murder, Lucy won't want to see him anymore."

"Seems like."

"It wasn't Natsu," Zeref protested.

"Is that what forensics will say?"

He was sweating despite the cold. "It's the truth."

"Even if it is, being an accomplice in a crime like this is almost as bad," Jellal informed him. "Any lawyer will tell you that."

"What am I supposed to do?" he pleaded.

"Can't say."

Zeref had the mad urge to beat him dead. And find yourself in even more trouble. Typically, the cops didn't care much about skin bags like Wally. Guys like Jellal Fernandez were the real attention grabbers. Rich, powerful and beautiful. A real tragedy when their kind went missing.

Zeref said, "You should take your money back. I might not be able to use it."

"It's been in your hands now. No one wants it."

Like everything he touched was tainted.

The last thing Jellal said to him before wandering off was, "Above all else, cops are lazy. They don't want to spend weeks waiting on forensic reports and months interviewing unreliable sources."

Having a secret like this was akin to being a festering apple. On the surface, you're whole, but beneath the skin, you're spongy and putrid.

It continued degrading Zeref even after the news came out that the police couldn't get much evidence off Wally's decapitated body. A lot of it had been compromised by the elements and invertebrates, and, of course, his head was nowhere to be found.

They identified him by DNA testing and his girlfriend appeared on the news again, beseeching anyone with information to come forward. What did it matter? She didn't have a family with him, and Wally had no one else.

Natsu kept himself busy so he didn't have to think about it all, Zeref suspected. He chopped wood for a woman named Porlyusica. Gildarts gave him her contact information. He also spent a lot of time with his friend Cana, working on Gildarts' bike in his front yard. The only thing he asked Zeref for was, again, a place for Cana to work, but the only thing Zeref did in that time was a lot of agonizing, watching the news for updates and generating lists in his head of ways the police could track him down.

His mother called mid-November. Zeref was going to ignore her but Natsu was in the room so he answered the phone. She, predictably, asked for money that Zeref had but didn't want to give up. If he used Jellal's money, was it somehow going to tie him to crimes, or enable the police to track him down and pin him for something? Or was Jellal going to suddenly ask for its return? Zeref would never be able to pay him back.

He sat on the cash while Natsu gave Zeref money from his wood chopping job to pass along. Zeref transferred it electronically. He didn't want to risk seeing his mother, afraid of her uncanny ability to see through all his guises.

Ultear came by the apartment a few days later. She was dressed in a tight red tunic that contrasted sharply with her pale skin and dark hair.

She didn't even look at Zeref when he pulled back the front door for her, instead crossing the apartment to Natsu's room and inviting herself inside. Zeref was annoyed, though the last time they saw each other, he was the one that shunned her.

He walked the streets again, so he didn't have to listen to whatever it was they were going to do in there and by the time he circled back around, Ultear was storming down the road, dishevelled and furious.

"Ultear," Zeref called.

The sound of her name sent a jolt through her. She stopped, the wind pushing her tunic dress around her legs, her hair a black tornado. She was beautiful, sharply contrasting against the grey background.

Zeref waited for an SUV to roll by and crossed to Ultear's side of the road. Her eyes tracked his every move.

"What?" Ultear asked when he was close enough. Her breath clouded in front of her face and got swept away. Zeref finally noticed the deep chill in the air. His jacket wasn't cutting it.

"Is he okay?"

"I guess that depends on your definition of okay." She gathered her coat up around her middle. Zeref grabbed her arm and held her in place. He didn't chase after people; now wasn't a good time to start.

"What happened?"

Ultear sighed. "Lucy."

It was always Lucy. "What did you do?"

Ultear opened her mouth with a defiant look on her face, but then her shoulders fell, her expression changed, and she spilled the truth. "Lucy was pissed off Natsu was always ignoring her. She wanted to understand the girls he was always hanging around."

"What does that mean?" But he had an idea.

"She came to my work and said she wanted to party."

"At which point you told her to go home, right?" Zeref led.

Ultear looked to the sky. "She's a big girl. She should know better."

And Ultear was Ultear, she should have known better. "So, you fucked my brother's straight girlfriend."

"Ex straight girlfriend and it was the worst experience of my life." She must have been sitting on that for a little while because the words just erupted out. "She cried a lot afterward. Guess she thinks she can never be enough for him."

She didn't say it like she was being mean.

And Ultear let her think it. "People like us can't help breaking shit just to break it," Zeref muttered.

"Guess so."

"He really thinks he loves her."

Ultear glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "But you don't?"

"I don't believe in love. Do you?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have told him."

"You're sweeter than you let on," Zeref said at last.

She got so still, he thought he said something wrong. "And you're not as cold as you let on," she responded several beats later.

"I know you don't mean that." He smiled a conspirator's smile. It would be nice not to act.

She faced him head-on. "Does this mean we're good again?"

Zeref thought of the money he hid in Duma Key and Jellal and the body excavated. "You don't want to be my friend, Ultear."

"You're right."

Except she didn't mean it the way he meant it.

Natsu wasn't in the apartment when Zeref opened the door. He threw some spiral fries in the oven and let them crisp and turned on the TV. Every time he went to the news channel was anxiety-inducing, but he did it like the addict he was, waiting for the thrill and fearing the comedown.

Wally's gravesite had been a thing of decreasing popularity, but today, it was back up front-and-centre. Someone had called in a tip, claimed that they saw a truck driving into the quarry that night and two men. They didn't get a license plate but thought the truck was something small, like a Canyon or a Ranger, something of that class. The police were asking for anyone with more information to step forward.

It was Zeref's turn to feel like vomiting. He swallowed the bile burning in his throat. He was sweating from head to foot. He felt like a fool. A caterpillar caught in stasis. He knew Heartfilia knew all his dirty secrets, Jellal proved that when he dug up Wally's head and put it beside his building. But his last conversation with Jellal had made him believe they'd come to a stalemate, a state of existing where neither side was happy, but they went on the way they were going on because they were used to continuing that way.

Empty threats, he thought. When had Jude Heartfilia ever made a threat he hadn't acted upon, though? Time between blows didn't make for a safe environment.

And now you're going to drown.

Worse, Natsu was going to, too.

Zeref's hands felt like they were slicked in blood again. The walls were closing in on him.

Natsu came through the front door, rumpled and pale. Zeref turned off the TV before he could catch any of what the newscaster was saying.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked.

Zeref had to swallow again to make his voice work. "Fine."

"You look sick."

"Withdrawal." It was the first time he openly spoke of his addiction. Natsu looked as startled as Zeref felt, normally, he would have kept that tight to his chest, but he knew he would have said anything to distract from the truth.

"It'll be okay," Natsu said.

Eventually. When he made it that way. Zeref knew better than to wait for the world to figure itself out.

An unsolicited text came to his phone the next day. It was a blurry picture of his truck. It was too dark to make out the license plate, but in the back was a lump covered beneath a Slimer blanket.

It wasn't a bluff, said a corresponding text. And, the next picture has better lighting.

What do you want?

Zeref typed out the words but didn't send them. Something like that might indicate the tip about the two-man job was right, if the police saw it, and Natsu could be arrested.

He had a different plan.

Cars rocketed by at dizzying speeds. Zeref counted them at first, while he stood on the sidewalk and smoked, ten, forty-five, one-oh-seven. They all looked like bullets, the highway the chamber of his gun, his footsteps the firing mechanism. The curb curled under the arch of his foot, making it cramp. His toes were cold, late-November cut through him like a knife through an apple.

That rotting apple, he thought. When it fell to the ground, all his secrets would be out, exposed for everyone to see. He had a letter in his pocket. His confession. The thought made his blood run fast in his veins.

A rusty and purple PT Cruiser whirled by and honked its horn loud and long. Zeref acted like he hadn't heard it. He edged his toes a little closer. Some cars moved into the lane opposite, trying to get away from the crazy, he supposed. Others didn't seem to see him or care and remained where they were. Every time they went by, the wind grabbed his coat and pulled at him like it was going to pull him into traffic.

Zeref closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing. Instead, he was met by Doctor Raquel's blue walls and carpeted floor. The fish tank that bubbled quietly in the corner.

"What are you doing, Zeref?" Doctor Raquel was middle-aged, and her blonde hair was so light, you almost couldn't tell it was going grey.

"You know," Zeref said.

"Running from your problems."

"Solving them," he rebuked. "Hopefully."

"Dying won't do what you want it to."

"You don't know that."

"It didn't help Wally."

"Wally didn't have a confession note."

"Do you think that'll save Natsu from getting caught in the fire?"

Yes.

Keeping his eyes closed, Zeref lifted his chin and stepped out into open air. Horns honked wildly; tires squealed. A force grabbed him and yanked him hard. Zeref hit the ground, his arm and his leg aching. Someone was swearing noisily; for an instant, that was all Zeref could hear.

He opened his eyes. His hands were cold, planted in slushy sidewalk snow and above him stood Ultear. Her shadow was as cold as her glare.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Her lips were painted mauve. She was in a black coat, open despite the biting wind. Beneath it was a light pink sweater and a black pair of jeans. Her boots went up to her knee, black and shining.

"Well?" Ultear demanded.

Zeref got to his feet. One car, the one that almost smoked him, he assumed, had pulled over to the side of the road. The driver was just sitting there, watching them in the rearview. Zeref flipped him off and noticed that his palm was torn open. He'd caught himself oddly on the pavement.

"What the fuck is going on with you?" Ultear continued to barrage him. She probably wouldn't stop talking until he started.

"Just an accident."

She planted her hands on her hips. "I watched you."

"It was just an accident," Zeref reiterated.

She brought in a staggering breath and clutched her coat around her middle, not because she was cold but because she didn't feel safe, her body language said. Zeref wished he could say something to make her stop looking at him like he betrayed her.

He fixed his coat; it was soaked. So were his pants. Something was wrong with his foot, too, but he could wiggle his toes and move his ankle. He put weight on it, sweated and swallowed back a yell.

Maybe it's broken?

He set his foot on the ground, testing it. It was stiff and hot, but it held his weight. Ligaments, he decided. When he was thirteen, he'd pulled the ligaments in his ankle playing hockey. It'd taken almost three years to heal and even then, it still ached sometimes.

"I'll help you home," Ultear said, distracting him.

Zeref shook his head. "I don't want to go home." Home was where Natsu was and if Ultear told him what she caught Zeref doing, Natsu would know something was going on.

"Then where?"

"Fairy Tail," he decided. It was nearby, warm, and he could use a drink.

A rational person might protest. Ultear wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him hobble away from the sight of his almost-death and the still-parked car.

Fairy Tail was always busy. The bar had good food and good beer. The bartenders knew how to mix a decent drink and Zeref didn't go there often enough for them to be annoyed that he hadn't paid his tab the last time he was there. The bartender was different and had no idea who he was.

Ultear bought them a round of tequila shots. Zeref knocked it back and it went down so smooth, it was like water. "Another," he told the bartender.

"Are you cold?" Ultear asked.

Zeref plucked the bottom of his jeans off his leg. "It's not bad."

She pulled one side of her mouth tight. "I was worried about you."

"I didn't think you cared after last time."

She straightened in her seat. "Why would you say that?"

He couldn't help manipulating her; it was literally in his blood. Zeref chewed his tongue to try to stop anyway. "You didn't follow me back to the apartment."

A sidelong glance. She couldn't keep up with his hot and cold. Zeref was only one step ahead of her, thinking if she wasn't fucking things up for Natsu, then he could be okay, and the way to get her to stop fucking with Natsu was to give her what she wanted.

Ultear said, "You didn't say anything when I told you how I felt. I was mad. That doesn't mean I don't care." Her fingers slid over the grain of the bar. Zeref smiled to himself. People were easy when you knew what they wanted.

"And Natsu?"

"He loves Lucy, you said so yourself."

His smile grew.

Ultear asked, "And Angel?"

"Angel loves Angel."

She leaned into him and brushed her mouth against his. He didn't realize how cold he was until he was touching her. She was warm all over, her lips, her cheek, her hip when he grabbed it.

Ultear sat back, wearing a pleased smile. She ordered another round of tequila and Zeref had three more after that. His head was buzzing, and he almost felt warm. His foot was forgotten and so was the highway. Doctor Raquel still managed to fight her way inside, though.

"How are you going to deal with this?" the ghost of her asked while Ultear was in the washroom.

Zeref stared at his empty tequila shot. He wanted another; the bartender kept ignoring him.

"Zeref. You can't just manipulate people and charge on ahead. How. Are. You. Going. To. Deal. With. It?"

"You'll have to be specific. Deal with what?"

A few people down the bar looked his way but no one approached.

"You won't have to worry about Ultear getting between Natsu and Lucy because Jude Heartfilia is doing everything in his power to pin this murder on your brother. They'll take him away."

"They won't."

"You don't believe that."

"Fuck off." He dug his phone out and stared blearily at the screen. His brother had texted him a little while ago. Zeref had the sudden urge to see him. He typed in heyyyyy and Natsu wrote back a question mark followed by, where are you?

Fairy Tail, Zeref said. I need to go home. Like, back to when he still lived with his parents, probably, when he kind of liked them and he didn't know how much they could fuck up and how much he could fuck up, too. Back to when the dark-dark was actually kind of light.

Disgusted, he turned off his phone and returned it to his pocket.

Doctor Raquel's voice was still here, whispering to him. "This isn't so bad, you know? You always want to do the right thing, Zeref and you know what it is."

Find the root of the problem. Pull it. Starve it dead.

Hands closed on his shoulders and moved down his chest. Zeref leaned back and opened his eyes. Ultear stood above him smelling like jasmine. "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah." Probably.

His foot protested when he stood. It would hurt worse tomorrow. Ultear grabbed him under the arm again and held him close.

"Thanks."

Her smile softened her features. Zeref wished it wouldn't. Soft girls were the girls that got hurt. Ultear was supposed to be different so he didn't have to feel bad using her.

People jostled them on their way out, some even spoke to them, laughing. Ultear took care of it, deftly ducking any prolonged conversation. The one she couldn't get around was Natsu. He was almost at Fairy Tail's entrance when Zeref and Ultear stumbled into the parking lot.

"There he is!" Zeref said loudly, drawing the attention of every smoker in the vicinity, and now that he had them, he was overcome with an urge to make them all understand. "Everyone! This is my baby brother. This is my Natsu. He's—" A manhole cover appeared under his foot. He twisted his already bad ankle and almost went down.

Natsu shot forward and grabbed him under his arm. "Geez."

"No." Zeref pushed him away and readdressed the giggling crowd. They had to know Natsu didn't have anything to do with Wally. If they understood, then maybe everyone else might, too. "He's better than me. He's better than you." He jammed his finger into the chest of a man he didn't recognize, drawing a snarl from him. "He's better than, you, too," he said to another.

Zeref's ankle gave out once more. Natsu caught him again and this time, he brought him into a clumsy bearhug to keep Zeref from slouching to the ground. His head was spinning, and his body felt loose. He felt like laughing and screaming, he felt like lying on the ground and being nothing at all. His hands hung limply at his sides. Natsu did all the work, holding him up. Zeref was always used to thinking of him as the little brother; when did he get so strong?

"He's better than all of you, you know?" Zeref slurred. He leaned back just enough to see Natsu's face. "Right?"

"You're drunk." Natsu curled his nose; he looked worried. Zeref didn't like to see him worried.

"Hey." He made his voice as quiet as a whisper. "Hey. I have to tell you something. I have to. Come here."

Natsu surprised him by leaning in. "What?"

"I killed someone." There. It was out in the open. He did it.

Natsu's muscles got stiff. "Let's get into the truck."

Not yet. Natsu needed to hear it and Zeref needed to say it. "I did it. Not you. Right?" He beat Wally's head against the floor until his skull cracked open and his brains leaked out the other side.

Natsu squeezed the back of Zeref's jacket. "Shut up."

Not yet. "Say it. I did it, not you. You need to know that."

"Shut up."

Zeref felt suddenly as manic as Natsu looked. "Say it."

"Yes, okay, fine, you did it."

Relief. The way out of this fuckfest his life had turned into, which had been a foggy path at best, suddenly looked clear. Zeref swallowed the burning fire in his throat. His eyes were stinging, too. "Don't be like me, Natsu. Gildarts has applications for you. Fill them out. Okay?"

Natsu ignored him. "Come on, into the truck."

He wasn't going to let it go. Not until Natsu agreed. "Okay?"

"Okay," Natsu conceded. "Okay. I'll fill them out."

"You're good." Zeref patted Natsu's chest roughly and reached for Ultear. "Take me home."

Ultear fit against him like a puzzle piece.

"Hey," Natsu complained.

Ultear waved him off with a reassuring smile. "I'll make sure he gets home."

Natsu looked past her to Zeref. "Zeref?"

"Ul said she's taking me home."

Natsu stuffed his hands onto his pockets, shoulders set. "I just came all that way to get you."

Ultear giggled riotously. "No pussy on you, though."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Zeref, come on." He sounded sober and worried. If only he'd seen Zeref teetering at the edge of the highway.

Instead of making him want to laugh, the thought only made his eyes sting worse. Zeref let go of Ultear so he could hug Natsu once, tight, trying to convey everything he didn't know how to say. He was sorry for being a shitty brother, he was sorry for not being there for him when he was going through shitty times, he was sorry for dragging Natsu down with him as he spiraled out of control. He was sorry for being him.

"I'm fine," Zeref promised and released him. Ultear put her arm around his waist again and flagged down a taxi waiting in the parking lot. Zeref felt Natsu's eyes on him but he would not look back as he closed the door and the taxi rolled off.

Ultear sat quietly beside him, head leaning on his shoulder. Zeref, in turn, leaned against the window, watching the streets and pedestrians go by. If there was a moon in the sky, it was covered by the cloud.

The taxi driver stopped in front of Zeref's apartment and Ultear gave him money, then she opened the door for Zeref and prodded him until he was out. She fished in his pocket and brought out his keys.

They didn't bother turning on the lights. Ultear pulled him into his bedroom where she kicked the door closed. Streetlight pooled into the window so they could see. She stripped off her jacket and her sweater. She was in a bra the same colour as her lipstick. Her underwear matched. She threw both onto the floor.

"Here." She helped him out of his clothes. The note holding Zeref's worst secret fell out of his pants pocket and lay on the floor looking criminal. Ultear knelt in front of him, obscuring his view. She undid his pants and took him out. He was semi-hard.

Her lips were dry, and her tongue was warm. She grabbed his hips and forced him against her. She looked up; streetlight streamed through her hair and she was beautiful and soon, Zeref stopped wondering what the fuck am I doing, and just did it.

Ultear's hair was tangles as Zeref grabbed it and shoved hard into her mouth. She took his available hand and put it on her throat so he could feel her moan, swallow and fight for breath. She touched the scar he put on his arm months ago so she could remind herself he was a cascade of bad decisions.

When he felt like he could take no more, he pulled away from Ultear. She backed up and lifted herself onto the bed. Angel and their almost disaster were in the back of his mind as he took out a condom and put it on. It took a few tries to get it right; none of his muscles were responding as they should. Finally, he was ready but Ultear held him back.

"What is it?"

She shook her hair back and tipped her face up so she was looking at him face-on. "Tell me you love me."

Zeref got quiet.

"Say it," Ultear pleaded.

"I can't."

She made fists, catching the blankets. "Why?"

"You want me to mean it."

Her eyes fluttered closed. "I want to hear it worse."

He used to think she was better than Angel, more grounded, the girl that wouldn't put a partially loaded gun to her head and pull the trigger. Now he saw, she just didn't have the right kind of weapon.

Zeref said the words. It was like wrenching out a splinter and afterward, there was relief. "I love you."

The second time was easier. The second time, he thought it could have even been true. "I love—"

She kissed him, blocking the rest of his words.

Zeref was mostly unconscious when he felt Ultear crawl over him. He heard the rustling of paper and knew she had his confession. She settled back beside him. He opened his eyes to watch her skim over the contents. The emotion drained out of her as she got to the end.

Zeref expected her to crawl out of bed, dress, and leave. Instead, she reached behind herself for the lighter he usually kept on his nightstand.

She held up the paper to the flickering flame Sensing his watching her, she made sure to hold his eyes as she touched the lighter to the letter, burning up everything he'd done.

As the ashes and cindering paper fell to the sheets, leaving scorch marks, Zeref said, "I don't need a letter to tell the truth."

"You won't have as much conviction without it," she whispered back.

He realized then that she understood what the letter had said, but she didn't believe it happened in the way he claimed. Perhaps the thought of lying in bed with a monster, being in love with him, was too much to bear.

ONE MORE CHAPTER.