10/03/2026 11:06

---

But your family think otherwise, and it is what they believe that will preserve them—and me. He felt no apprehension, only single-minded intent, like the flight of an arrow. He lied to me. Karl, help me.

I don't believe in God and I don't believe in the Devil, Karl said. She felt like a scrap of paper in the wind, helpless. His view of immortality and the Crystal Ring were too narrow; he was capable of interpreting them only through the religious framework he must have known in life. His gaze rested on Madeleine.