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I feel his hand on my cheek I knohat thiswith us, Evan," I say

"There’s soht" My hand flails for his in the dark I find it and pull hard "You have to come with us"

"I’ll find you, Cassie Don’t I always find you? I--"

"Don’t, Evan You don’t know you’ll be able to find me"

"Cassie" I don’t like the way he says ood-bye voice "I rong when I said I was both and neither I can’t be; I know that now I have to choose"

"Wait a uy is one of theo over it later" I grab Evan’s hand in both of ain"

"You left ers over s to hiht-for territory he’s won fair and square

I give in What aotten this far, I tell et the rest of the way

"What’s due north?" I ask, pushing against his fingers

"I don’t know But it’s the shortest path to the farthest spot"

"The farthest spot from what?"

"From here Wait for the plane When the plane takes off, run Ben, do you think you can run?"

"I think so"

"Run fast?"

"Yes" He doesn’t sound too confident about it, though

"Wait for the plane," Evan whispers "Don’t forget"

He kisses oes all Evanless I can feel Ben’s breath on my neck, hot in the cool air

"I don’t understand what’s happening here," Ben says "Who is that guy? He’s a…What is he? Where’d he co now?"

"I’m not sure, but I think he’s found the armory"

Somebody was up there ahead of me and left a blood trail

Oh God, Evan No wonder you didn’t tellto blow this whole place to hell"

87

IT’S NOT A RACE up the stairs to freedo on to one another as we climb, me in the lead, Ben at the rear, and Sammy between us The closed space is choked with fine particles of dust, and soon we’re all coughing and wheezing loud enough, it seems to me, to be heard by every Silencer in a two-mile radius I move with one hand extended in front of ress softly

"First landing!"

A hundred years later we reach the second landing Almost halfway to the top, but we haven’t hit the debris Evan warned us about

I have to choose

Now that he’s gone and it’s too late, I’ve couument is this:

You won’t have time

The Eye takes--what?--about a h tio all noble and sacrifice yourself to save us, but then don’t say things like I’ll find you, which ireen fireball from hell

Unless…Maybe the Eyes can be detonated re around…

No If that was a possibility, he would have come with us and set them off once ere a safe distance away

Da to understand Evan Walker, he slips away It’s like I’ to visualize a rainbow If what I think is about to happen actually happens, will I feel his passing like he felt Lauren’s, like a punch in the heart?

We’re halfway to the third landing when oing to see if I can clih at the top"

I hand rip with both hands I’ve never done --okay, my experience is zero--but how hard could it be, really?

I’m maybe three feet up when a rock slips beneathmy chin hard on the way

"I’ll try," Ben says

"Don’t be stupid You’re hurt"

"I’d have to try if you ht, of course I hold on to Sammy while Ben scales the mass of broken concrete and shattered reinforce every ti wet drops onto my nose Blood

"Are you okay?" I call up to him

"U to death"