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At the end of my emotional rope and badly in need of blood and non-Keen coe and floppy and made of the itchiest substance I’d ever touched, the sort of thing an old servant man would wear to keep the rain off

"Couldn’t you find anything se it so it wouldn’t itch "I could fit Tommy Pain in here and still have roorin again, the one that transfor that I wanted to destroy I threw the hat at her instead She caught it neatly and twirled it around a finger Anger bubbled up in my chest

"I could have stuffed all my hair in here, you brat We didn’t have to cut it off yet, or so badly It didn’t have to hurt"

"Nope We didn’t But I think it wasto see your head--"

"On a platter Yeah, the Maestro told me about that Why would you even want someone’s head on a platter? It would just wobble around and leak andat you with their dead eyes A pike would be so much more dramatic Or a fishbowl full of whiskey"

"Seeht," I snapped

"You’re not the only one with enemies"

While we bantered, my traitorous hands crept up to as left of led ends, and my breath hitched People could see my ears It was the worst disaster since the last blood faood price for it, you know Bloody idiots will think it’s a unicorn tail with ood-luck watch fobs You should be proud"

"Magical properties? You’ve obviously never met a unicorn"

"Haven’t met a sea rin and flash my pointed teeth "Then you haven’t been to Freesia"

"Save the fairy tales for the kiddies, princess" But I had seen her tough façade falter, just for ashe’d never been out of London and was scared of travel She had reason to be, if she thought she was co to hold over her Excellent

"They’re not fairy tales, raga late So let’s go"

I tooko, they had been as soft as a baby’s cheek, perfectly tanned bludelk leather dyed to a deep gold Now they were cracked with age and disuse, the laces hard and bent As forI could do about it, and I didn’t want her filthy little paws on my person anyway I snatched the hat back and draped it overbrirander about a bit and burp every now and then They’ll just assu Let’s go Don’t speak to anyone Try to hunch over a bit like there ain’t a red-hot poker up your bu about heads on platters" She yanked a faded plaid blanket from Casper’s bed and tossed it over ood and bad at the same time "And keep this around your shoulders and neck Hide your hands They ain’t so nice to Bluddies where we’re going"

I arranged the pathetic little scrap of fabric the way I’d seen our old Pinky cook wear her shahilethe potion forainst everything inless than I was But I’d heard wild ruland, who held sway over the Bludainst nature itself I wasn’t ready to be drained again or hit in the face with a etable

Without a word, she led me out the door and down the rickety stairs I was pleased to discover that I could walk, but I was still exhausted It was like the drea hunt, but without the pleasant floaty feeling of a belly full of fresh blood

We passed several open doors, one showing the empty music hall where I’d first found Casper and woken in the darkness A jumble of crates, valises, and flotsaht I spotted the flap of leather frorunted Before she could stop me, I darted over to the suitcase and scrabbled inside, feeling for some remnant of hts were low, since there were no s, and even with iven up whenit I felt around between the ragged silk and the leather until soertips

I pulled out hed I wasn’t sure whether it was content that day by the fish pond, the day that, to the best of my memory, was the day of my abduction White diamonds and blue sapphires winked in a collar that ift from my father fordays before Ravenna had begun to insinuate herself into our fa?" Keen called from the doorway