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Melusine atching her "You’re strong I think you can do it, daughter of Hellewise"

"I’ I’m scared"

"I think it may be possible to be both," Melusine said wryly "But, Gillian? If you do get through it, please

cos About the Night World-and about so called

Circle Daybreak"

The way she said it alarmed Gillian "Is it important?"

"It could be very important to you, a witch with human ancestors and surrounded by hulanced once around the shop Maybe there was so she should take

But she knew she was just stalling If there were anything helpful, Melusine would have already given it to her

There was nothing left to do now but go

"Good luck," Melusine said, and Gillian marched to the door Not that she had any particular idea where she was going

She was almost at the creaky front door of the Five and Ten when she heard Melusine calling

"I forgot to el’ was, he was probably fro around the place they died Although that’s probably not"Nono, it w helpful It’s great It’s given h the door without really seeing it, stepped out into the square without really

hearing the piped-in Christo now, she thought

She drove south, back toward So road eastward into the hills As she

rounded a gentle curve she saw the ceraveyard, but still popular Steeped in tradition, but with plenty of room Grandpa

Trevor was buried in the newer section, but there were ancient to Angel, it ht be here

The only way to the older section was up a

wooden staircase held in place by railway ties Gillian cli the handrail Then

she stood at the top and looked around, trying not to shiver

She was a tall sycaers in every direction

The sun was falling lower in the sky and long shadows tinged with lavender were reaching out from the trees

Gillian braced herself And then, as loudly as she could, she yelled

"Come on, you! You knohat I want!"

Silence

Gillian refused to feel foolish Gloved hands tucked under her arms, she shouted into the stillness

"I know you can hear me! I know you’re out there! The question is, are you in here?" She kicked a foot

toward a snow-covered sandstoneshe could do here on her own The only way to get the inforel had been in his earthly life and what he’d done or left undone, was froel himself

Nobody else could tell her

"Is this you?" Gillian scraped snow fro,

1775, Who bled and Dyed for Liberty’ Were you Thos of the tree above her

clashed together in the rising wind It made a sound like a crystal chandelier

"No, he sounds too brave And you’re obviously just a coward" She scraped some other stones "Hey,

maybe you were Willia froecoach’ That

sounds more like you Were you Willia?)

Gillian froze

(Because I’ve got one for you) The voice in her head began to sing raucously Eerily (The Pha-a-antom

of the Opera is here, inside your el You can do better than that And why aren’t you letting ht shiht that rippled like silk It grew, it took on a shape

And then Angel was standing there Not floating His feet actually see and beautiful in the gathering twilight But his beauty was only frightening

now Gillian kneas underneath it

"Hi there," she aluess you knohat I’m here to talk about"

"Don’t know and don’t care Should you be out here alone, anyway? Does anybody knohere you are?"

Gillian positioned herself in front of him She looked directly into eyes that were as violet and darkly

lu those eyes, giving every word equal weight "Not an angel Not

a devil You’re just a person Just like s as any other person And you can’t be happy being where you are

Nobody could You can’t want to be stuck there If I were dead, I’d hate it"

The last words cael looked away

An advantage Gillian leapt in "Hate it," she repeated "Just hanging around, getting stagnant, watching

other people living their lives Being nothing, doing nothing-unless it’s to make a little trouble for people

on earth What kind of a life is tha-" She broke off, realizing her"No life!"

"All right, what kind of existence, then," Gillian said coldly "You knohat I "

A spasel’s face He whirled away from her And for the first tiitation in hied animal And his hair-it seemed

to be ruffled by soe "It’s about as good as being under there" She kicked at the dead weeds over a grave

He whirled back, and his eyes were unnaturally bright "But I am under there, Gillian"

For a moment, her skin prickled so that she couldn’t speak She had to force herself to say steadily,

"Under that one?"

"No But I’ll show you where Would you like that?" Heher down the

stairs Gillian hesitated, then went, knowing he was behind her

Her heart was pu wildly This was almost like a physical contest between them-a contest to see

who could upset the other more

But she had to do it She had to er and frustration and

despair and so answers out of it

And it was a contest A contest of wills Who could shout louder, who could be el’s soul

She nearly tripped at the botto She noticed, al like an icy ent past her-and there was light in front of her Angel alking there,

not leaving any footprints in the snow Gillian staggered after hi for the newer section of the ceel said He turned His eyes were glittering He was standing behind a gravestone and his

own light illuminated it

Chills washed over Gillian

This hat she had asked for, it was exactly what she had asked for But it still made the hair on her

neck stand on end

He was under here Right here Beneath the ground The body of the person she’d loved and trusted

whose voice had been the last thing she’d heard at night and the first thing each

He was under here in some kind of box, unless olden-haired and handso to find out his nahoulishly, leaning over the granitehis elbows on it "Co, but his eyes looked as if he hated her Wild and reckless and bitter

Capable of anything

And soh Gillian disappeared

Her eyes were full, spilling over The tears froze on her cheeks She brushed at therave, not on it She didn’t look at Angel

She put her hands together for just a moment and bent her head It was a wordless prayer to whatever

Power ently scraped snoay froranite headstone with a scrolled top It read "In loving eon," Gillian said softly She looked up at the figure leaning over the stone "Gary"

He gave a h, but it sounded forced "Nice to hbors"

Gillian looked back down The date of birth was eighteen years ago And the date of death was the previous year

"You died last year And you were only seventeen"

"I had a little car crash," he said "I was extreain, wildly