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She heard footsteps that seemed too far away Voices that were disjointed and sounded nonsensical to her ears
Nothingwas real
Hands pulled her off Chelsea and she struggled against the to remain at her friend’s side so she could save her So she could protect her To stop whatever was happening
But when she first saw the s up from Chelsea, from her friend’s hair, her skin, her mouth, as insubstantial and wraithlike as the air itself, she realizedshe knew
She was too late
Heatsmoke
This was Chelsea’s echo
CHAPTER 1
Almost Three Weeks Earlier
VIOLET AMBROSE COVERED HER HEAD WITH her pillow and punched it, trying to drive her fist through her ears—through her own skull if necessary—in hopes of silencing the constant music-box sound that followed her Everywhere Even into the depths of sleep
It haunted her drea up every spare iota of space in her brain And then some
Violet had never worried about the echoes of the dead before She’d never spentwhy a certain body carried the sensation that it did—the bold tastes, the intricate colors, the intense smells She’d just accepted them for what they were They were simply part and parcel of those ere taken away from this world too soon She understood that those ere killed carried an echo, and that whoever was responsible for their deaths would carry his or her ownimprint End of story
Except that now, Violet had her own imprint And it was all she could think about It was like she had become trapped in her own personal hell
Because now she was a killer too And in beco a killer, she was now encureat to bear
Violet hated the song that echoed around, and above, her Hated this particular echo of the dead like she’d never hated any other before
Not because it wasn’t beautiful orA constant reminder of what she’d done
You’re a killer
You’re a killer
You’re a killer
It never stopped
She reached for her iPod and cranked up the volume until she was certain that everyone in the house could hear the ainst the rate that h, and that the tiny internal speakers were threatening to blow Only then did she press the button, letting the htly