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Chapter 1

Franklin studied the body floating in water with fear and horror Blackened beyond recognition, it lay suspended between existence and non-existence Even the hair had completely burned away froe the water in the bathtub every hour until he rose for the evening It was now four in the afternoon, sunset was three hours away and Franklin was frightened There was no alteration in Lissa's condition—hadn't been throughout the day Gavin wasn't aware of Lissa's atte sleep for the day when Merrill pulled Lissa fro for her, she would have died Meant to die Franklin's cell phone lay on a stack of towels nearby and he'd spoken to Greg several times already, for much-needed moral support If Gavin wakes and finds Lissa like this, Franklin heaved a troubled sigh His watch was set for half an hour before sunset, allowing sufficient ti away before Gavin discovered this disaster

"Little girl, you need to come back to us," Franklin swirled a hand in the water Merrill had placed Lissa in the tub inside her bathroo her burned body fro when he heard Merrill's shout, finding his father settling Lissa's blackened and unrecognizable body in the tub and turning on the taps Black ash stirred and sifted off the body still, rising to float on the water's surface Franklin had never seen anything like this Never The ti on the side of the tub went off and Franklin dutifully released the water, watching while additional black ash drifted down the drain More water ran into the tub and the wait began again

"This doesn't look good," Merrill knelt down beside the tub later, reaching in to move the water a little "We need to lift her head up so she can take a breath if she's going to"

"I don't think she's going to be happy with us if she wakes and finds we stopped her," Franklinthick, rolled up towels to Merrill Merrill carefully lifted Lissa's head and placed towels beneath it so her nose and mouth were free of the water

"You're likely correct," Merrill sighed "She intended to do this Absolutely She waited until Gavin and I passed her room one last time before dawn and then escaped, probably asfor the sun to take her"

"Perhaps the s, but in this case, I think they should have devised an alternative punishry that they'd punished her to begin with, but Merrill and Gavin had both agreed to Wlodek's sentence, as had the Council Franklin had expressed his opinion to Merrill, who'd listened dispassionately and then agreed with Wlodek anyway

"I have three es from Anthony Hancock on her phone, six frohed "How can we possibly explain this to the to tell Gavin?"

Franklin stiffened when he heard Gavin's voice calling for Lissa "I'll go," Merrill said "He cannot get pastthe water a little

"Where is Lissa?" Gavin demanded when Merrill stepped from Lissa's bathroom

"In the tub," Merrill replied "Gavin, I found her on the roof thisthe sun take her when I pulled her away There has been no improvement in her condition since then"

Gavin stood inside the doorway of Lissa's bedroo his features "No," he denied, shaking his head "That is not possible Where is she?"

Merrill placed the best co him not to be violent in his reaction when he saw Lissa and then motioned the Assassin inside the bathrooazed on Lissa's blackened flesh Merrill's cell rang so he walked into Lissa's bedroom to answer