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"I b-b-believe you are safe," Vil said, and her coht of the doorway, their eyesto do, Mr Gladstone," shedown fro up, possibly en was utterly discombobulated No man had ever touched her face, nations with Beauregard had been as swift and cold as shop transactions, and she had been neither warmed nor satisfied by his brief, harsh caresses

The first tiht her and used her, she had found a quiet corner of the museum’s cellar vault and sobbed her heart out into a handkerchief After that, she had steeled herself to be just as remote and aloof, to consider it a duty and the fine line between her and a life of begging on the streets, a fallen woloves, never known a loved hand on her face had seeht, and she was not yet ready to face hiround, she nearly collapsed Mr Murdochno Henry Whatever his name was, he landed beside her and put a hand on her ar than the last touch, and she hid her disquiet by pressing her eyes to the leather cups of the periscope goggles and gazing at the caravan outside The hillside that had held the Coppers when last she looked was now eer," Henry murmured as he adjusted the dials and her view

The scene was eerie All of the carnivalleros sat on the roofs of their wagons, their eyes pinned to the one next door to Mr Murdoch’s That was the engine, and Cri the door, arer

"May I?"

She backed away and let Henry look, her eyes straying to his backside Ien had never seen a own and found herself transfixed by the neat cut of his pants over lean hips, just a triangle of his shirt flashing froon should be their last stop, then," he said "That’s Vil’s, you know He hasn’t anything painted on the side, as he’s neither an act nor a figure of h to see his own name painted on my trailer"

"And what of your name?"

"You already know les, aran to wonder if he regretted their whispered conversation in the dark, secretive crawlspace, and she didn’t want to think too sharply about howaround the roo to keep hi her heart race With a few quick steps, she beganthem neatly on the floor He should have offered to help, but he just watched her struggling under the weight of the great to

"Honestly, did you select only the most burdensome books to anchor ed crow"

She set down the encyclopedia with a slight puff of dust and drew herself up to her full height, giving hined to ridicule her

"My entire life is buried in this trunk and was very nearly discovered by those horrid hooligans," she said "Of course, I’m anxious about their safety"

"Your butterflies are trapped in soen, and, as such, require neither oxygen nor attention You’re just feeling busy It is a siht But you needn’t worry Your entire life is not, in fact, buried in that trunk"

She took a shuddering breath "What do you ave her such a slow, honey-sweet sain, touch her face, or dust her lips with another kiss Instead, he walked to the bookshelf and selected a book

"Olivia Twist Let uess One of your favorites?"

"That’s mine! You beastly, beastly man!" Then she realized that his entire bookshelf was covered in her books She knew every single volu that she had spent the last year of her life buying the theant a solution, don’t you think? Hiding your darlings in plain sight?"

"What if they’d picked up a book? What if they’d opened it?"

He snorted "Do you suppose Coppers are often bibliophiles? That men trained to hurt, to kill, to capture, and especially to hate anyone but their own species--do you think that they are learnedthe h she had known, upon buying theallant of causes, she had still taken pains to buy the books she loved It was as if by cutting out their hearts, she was still able to give theht out the first book He had arranged them in alphabetical order, the tidy creature, and she found it easily enough Fantastic Conjectures One of her favorites She plucked it from its place on the shelf and opened it, careful to keep the spine facing him With one look inside, her eyes rolled heavenward in silent thanks Her beloved Blue Morpho was in perfect for

But no I he did was careless

"But what if they had opened one?" she asked again

His face went dark, his eyes darting to the corner, where a large lump sat, covered in a canvas tarp

"I had a plan for that, too," he said

"What is that, under the tarp?"

"You don’t want to know"