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"I’ve been ine And what I want you to believe is that children can go into dark places and disappear After which people ht tell stories to explain it-sometimes true stories, soain "Anyway-it’s a beautiful rose," she said and stroked it against her cheek

Julian’s eyes glea in the courtyard," he said "You can really see the ht there"

The courtyard had a nuht flooded down Jenny felt alht threw a sort of , and the cavern eirdly beautiful with its dark shadows and bright patches of silver

Julian looked the same Every shadow on his face was dead black, and there were silver points in his eyes

"Have you ever wondered why you can go into dangerous places without getting hurt?" he said abruptly "Why the stray anied-or worse-when you wander around bad parts of town at night?"

"I" People were always yelling at Jenny for exactly the things he was talking about She herself had never given itin her mind "No," she said "No, I haven’t"

His eyes re after you, Jenny Watching over you No one can touch youno one but me"

"That’s impossible" It cas all led

"And I couldn’t have been watching you that long? But I have I’ve always loved you, Jenny"

The power of his gaze was frightening Jenny was confused by her own eer toward him, but by now she had to admit that part of her was fascinated by him He was a prince of darkness-

-who had chosen her

She turned and walked away froather herself

"l nave never been in love before, Julian said "You’re my first-and you’ll be my only"

There was reed snowflakes around her, wrapping her in otherworldliness

Jenny turned around and he touched her

His touch was as tenuous as gauze on her cheek Jenny was so surprised she didn’t move Then she looked down stupidly He had taken her hand

But I thought you couldn’t

His fingertips were as cool as jade against her skin Tingles followed in their wake She had an urge to press her cheek to his open hand

Don’t, she thought Don’t, don’t, don’t

"Don’t," she whispered

He went on stroking her hand, thuerous feeling Jenny felt herself start to come undone

His touch was so delicate-he’d disengaged her hand so gently froht

His gift She’d held it in her hand She’d stroked it against her right cheek-the cheek he was touching now

She stepped back "Youtricked me"

He still held her hand "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it rasp How could she have been so stupid? It was a gaet permission to touch more and more of her "I understand now-I’ll never touch you or anything you give ain"

His lips were s hot and deadly serious in his eyes "Maybe not-but another one will Believeto make you mine-entirely-before you finish the Ga more mature to say than, "In your dreams!"

"No-in yours," he said "And remember, you’re not alone here"

Jenny heard a scream

"That’s Audrey," she said "That’s Audrey! So to her!" When he wouldn’t release her hand, she jerked it out of his

Then she saw his eyes-and what she saw there froze her

"You know," she whispered "You’re doing it-to get back atwas still going on "Do you want it to stop?"

Evil, she thought Absolute evil Cruel, capricious, and dangerous as a cobra I won’t forget that again

"I’ll stop it myself," she said, her voice soft but fierce "I told you I was going to win this Gaive in to you"

She threw the silver rose at his feet

Then she was running for the sound of Audrey’s screaed out of the sandcastle rooot by the clearer and clearer Jenny saw a gap in the nearest red wall and ducked into it, and suddenly the screa and Dee standing in front of her She stumbled the last few feet to collapse beside the?"

Audrey was half sitting, half lying against the gypsum-encrusted wall of a small cavern Her features were contorted with horror-and when Jenny turned she sahy

She would have thought that after all she’d been through, she would be inured to weird creatures But these things-these things were-

"Oh, God, Audrey, what are they?" she choked out

Audrey’s fingernails bit into Jenny’s ar corpses They’ve co

They smelted like corpses-the sickly-sweet odor of decay Some of them had bloated bodies Some had leathery skin, fallen in and wrinkled So off

One had thick fingernails turned brown by ti spirals The nails clattered together, ooseflesh all over Jenny’s body

They were co the exit Jenny didn’t kno she’d gotten around theain They were closing in from all sides

"When I tell you, run for the door!" Dee said

"What door?"

Dee pointed and Jenny turned Beyond the nearest draugr on the right was a wall-and there was a

door in it A Gothic door with an arched top, painted blue

"Okay?" Dee shouted "Get ready for it!"

She had been standing with her left leg back, knee bent, all her weight on it Her right leg was so bent that only the toe touched the floor It made her look like a ballerina, but it was called the cat stance-Dee was always trying to teach Jenny kung fu stances

Suddenly she kicked, her right foot snapping up flat to strike the draugr under the jaith her heel

With a dry crack the draugr’s head fell backward -all the way backward Its neck was snapped

The terrible thing was that it kept walking Head resting on its own shoulder blades, blundering the wrong way, it kept walking

Jenny let go and screamed

"Get up!" Dee shouted to theot them distracted Get out of here!"

Audrey remained frozen "We can’t leave you-"

"Don’t worry about o! Jenny, take her!"

Jenny obeyed the tone of command instinctively She hauled Audrey up by her houndstooth jacket and pulled her to the door She wrenched it open, and they both fell through

It slammed behind them before Jenny could stop it She and Audrey looked at each other in dismay

And then they waited

They waited until a sick feeling in Jenny’s sto Jenny tried the door handle It wouldn’t budge

"It’s my fault," Audrey whispered

One of you probably won’t ed through, slaust of air

"That was close," she said "But I’ve been dying for a fight, and it was a good one"

She was gloith exertion and the joy of battle She looked at Audrey

"Well, aren’t you a lossy auburn hair was hanging around her face; her spiky bangs were plastered damply to her forehead Her cheeks were flushed and wet, her hands and legs scratched and scraped Her cherry lipstick was gone

Face inscrutable, Audrey held out one hand and slowly unclenched the fingers On her palm were the combs from her French twist "At least I still have these," she said calhter They laughed and laughed in a violent release of e out of your nightasped finally

Audrey raised her eyebrows, and then her lips curled again in a s at each other

An unseen clock struck twelve

"Midnight," Jenny said It came out softly, almost a whisper Every time they won, that clock chi fast Where was it, anyway? The sound seemed to pervade the entire house

"Six hours until dawn," Dee was saying to Audrey "And only five nighto We’re fine We’ll make it, easy"

"Easy? I don’t think so," Audrey said

"Look," Jenny said quietly, bending to pick up a scrap of paper