Hand in hand behind the line of priests, they'd witnessed him as he walked out into the desert. He had never looked back, never regretted a single step...
"Gods!" The sob ripped from his throat, shocking him, disgusting him. The more he tried to stem the swell of emotion, the more his eyes stung, flashes of his life tumbling through his mind. Elle in her bonding dress, her smile radiant as she pledged to him... Elle holding Gio up for his kiss, his son tangling chubby fists in his hair... Elle changing, her face suddenly long, then sharp, then bloody, every shred of humanity gone...
"No!" He raged. "Not this."
Gio only three years old, his tiny throat shredded. His filicidal wife, his beloved Elle, with congealed smears over her mouth and chin...
Slumping against the tree, the rough ba
