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She did, and it looked different than it had before. The veldt of stars was endless, the dark of night folded again and again over so many bright spots that the sky was more light than black. Its beautiful.

Its about to be a tabula rasa. His lips curled into a twisted smile. Ive grown tired of this game.

This is all a game to you?

Its a game to him. He swept his hand across the sky and left a dark swath of night in his wake. And I refuse to concede it to that Other simply because of a cosmic scale. Simply because our sides are in balance.

Balance. You mean, the scale between the fallen angels who allied themselves with you, and those who allied themselves with--

Dont say it. But yes, that other. Right now there is a balance, and--

And one more angel has to side, Lawrence said, remembering the long talk Arriane had given her at the diner in Las Vegas.

Mmm-hmm. Except this time, I wont leave it to chance. It was a shortsighted goal of mine, the whole starshot bit, but I