Izzy looked at Cerasus curiously at his mellow reaction to Riley’s involvement. When he took a bite of the heart, her stomach did an uneasy flip and she turned away from him. 
	“I’ll leave you to it, then.” Her face twisted in disgust, she hurried a bit further down the hall, leaving her staff against the wall.
	She paced the halls for what felt an eternity as he ate behind the closed door, her mind reeling. Home. She was so close to getting home, to being capable of putting everything behind her, to getting what she had wanted from the beginning. But had she made the right choice, giving him everything he needed to return to power for her own gain?  She glanced down once, partially surprised she had not worn a trench into the floor.
	With pacing doing little for her, she sat heavily against one wall, pulled her knees toward her chest, and laid her arms and head atop them. She took a few deep breaths to try steadying both her thoughts and impatience at the time it was taking Cerasus. She busied herself instead with thinking of the things she would do as soon as she was human again, of her plans, both old and new.
	Izzy inhaled and sat up straight when the atmosphere in the hall changed with the renewal of Carasus’ power, making her second guess her decision once more. What had she allowed to return?
	Her gaze darkened when he called her from the classroom, the strong voice familiar. 
	“I’m [i]not[/i] your servant,” she muttered almost automatically under her breath. “And I [i]have[/i] a name.” Still, she stood, albeit slowly, and hesitantly made her way back to the classroom.
	She paused with her hand on the knob, ignoring the small, grimy window in the door, inhaled deeply, then entered. What she found waiting for her stole her breath away. 
	Izzy stared at him with both dread and awe. She swallowed hard, and pried her gaze from him with no little effort, casting it instead to the floor.
	“You..." she cleared her throat. "You’re looking better.”