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Shoving his hands in his pockets, he rubbed his cheek on his shoulder "So you think I should listen to her?"

"No, you should listen to h to break "And what do you say?"

Blue was suddenly afraid for hi brave"

There was blood everywhere

Are you happy now, Adam? Ronan snarled He knelt beside Gansey, who convulsed in the dirt Blue stared at Ada It was his fault Ronan’s face ith loss Is this what you wanted?

At first, when Ada from the adrenaline of it, he wasn’t sure where he was He felt like he levitated; the space around hiht, tooback at him from the walls

Then he remembered where he was, in Noah’s roos A neave of misery washed over him, and he could identify its source very precisely: homesickness For uncountable ically, Ada towith his captors, considering it a kindness when his father didn’t hit hie went deeper than any bruise he’d ever worn to school He could endlessly dissect his reactions, doubt his erow up to hit his own kid

But lying in the black of the night, all he could think was, My ain I’ in Adam’s mind They seemed closer than ever before, but the possibility of a successful outcome also felt more tenuous than ever before Whelk was out there, and he’d been searching for this for even longer than Gansey Surely, left to his own devices, he’d find what he wanted sooner than they would

We need to wake up the ley line

Adahts: the last ti up beside hiister on that day when he decided heinto his father’s face He was full of so many wants, too many to prioritize, and so they all felt desperate To not have to work so ht in a tie, to not still be hungry after eating the thin sandwich he’d brought to work, to drive the shiny Audi that Gansey had stopped to look at with hio horanite countertops and a television bigger than Gansey’s desk, to belong soo home

If they woke the ley line, if they found Glendower, he could still have those things Most of theain, he saw Gansey’s wounded form, and he saw, too, Gansey’s wounded face froht There just wasn’t a way that Adam would put Gansey in peril

But there also wasn’t any way that he was going to let Whelk slide in and take what they’d worked so hard for Wait! Gansey could always afford to wait Ada quietly around the roo It was hard to predict what he would need Adaun fro moment, a black, sinister shape on the floorboards Earlier, Gansey had seen hi it

"What’s that?" he’d demanded, horrified

"You knohat it is," Adah he wasn’t sure his father would ever use it on histhe chance

Gansey’s anxiety over the gun had been palpable It was possible, Ada one in his face "I don’t want it in here"

"I can’t sell it," Adaally It’s registered in his naet rid of it Bury it"

"And have some kid find it?"

"I don’t want it in here"

"I’ll find a way to get rid of it," Adam had promised "But I can’t leave it there Not now"

Adaht, not really

But he didn’t knohat he’d need to sacrifice

He checked the safety and put it in the bag Clied to stifle a sound Noah stood directly in front of him, hollow eyes on level with Adam’s eyes, smashed cheek on level with Adam’s ruined ear, breathless mouth inches from Adaer, without Gansey there to , Noah was a frightening thing

"Don’t throw it away," Noah whispered

"I’ The gun in it hted I checked the safety, didn’t I? I did I know I did

When he straightened, Noah was already gone Adaid air where he had just been and opened the door Gansey was crumpled on his bed, earbuds in, eyes closed Even with the hearing gone in his left ear, Adam could hear the tinny sound of the music, whatever Gansey had played in order to keep hi hiether Only, when I come back, we’ll be equals

His friend didn’t stir as he let himself out of the door As he left, the only sound he heard was the whisper of the night wind through the trees of Henrietta

Chapter 42

Gansey woke in the night to find the ain, waking properly, he realized there was no hts of Henrietta reflected a dull purple off the low cloud cover and the ere spattered with raindrops