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"Maybe you could help elic blue eyes "What did you have in mind?"

Yep, that helped I raisedbetween us inpartner"

There was an abrupt shift in the atmosphere in the bar Since the rebellion earlier this summer, Stefan had solidified his position as the undisputed leader of the Outcast in Hel’s territory and those under his command had been careful not to treat me and my super-size emotions as a potential all-you-can-eat buffet Well, that and the fact that I’d dispatched two of their nu death

This was different There was a new leamed out at me from the depths of the bar, and a e when they saw one Or sensed one, I guess Anyway, if I wanted a fight, there were half a dozen ghouls ready to giveskills My mental shield faltered and vanished

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" Cooper angled himself to block me from view of the others "You’re a piece of work"

I hoisted the buckler and rekindledto help o out back"

I followed Cooper outside and around to the rear of the building, where there was an area of hard-packed dirt adorned with cigarette butts

"So that’s what hi his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet He wore a pair of lace-up construction boots that looked too big for his scrawny fraCooper was never going to grow into his feet "Seeood student"

I kept my shield in place "It’s a lot like the visualization exercises I’ve done since I was a kid Only harder"

His expression was unreadable "So you really want me to unleash the beast? I’ll warn you, I don’t have the kind of control the big man does"

I was apprehensive, but I was curious, too "Is that what you call it? The beast?"

Cooper’s pupils waxed "It’s what I call it The beast, the black beast that rides rim smile "Do you knoe’re cursed with our beasts, pretty Daisy?"

"Honestly?" I said "No, I don’t I didn’t think anyone truly understood it"

"Ah, well, if you’re being technical, no" Cooper shrugged "Hoe exist and hether there’s some purpose to it or it’s a mere accident of fate But the beastI understand the beast"

I lowered ed in death at the pinnacle of our existence" Cooper looked pastdeath in a howling store or fury, despair or defiance, passion or hatred We died filled with a blaze of terror and hope, not knowing if ere going to meet God or the Devil himself, and oke to find ourselves cast back into thein the stink of our own shit But you knohat? We want that o back to that one terrible, horrible, glorious moment And we can’t We’re trapped Outcast And the eternal hunger rides us like a beast, claws gouging us like spurs" His gaze returned to me, clear-eyed and steady "So we fill the void hatever we can"

"Oh" The word ca I wouldn’t have a probleer after this

"Now you knohat you’re asking for," he said to aze "Are you still willing to help rip, holding its ihts "Let’s do this"

Cooper turned his beast loose and ca to describe because it’s not like anything else you’ve experienced That void, that hunger, exerts a profound tidal pull on everything inside you, everything you feel, trying to suck out your inner emptiness in their wake

And I understood i Stefan’s control When I’d sparred with Stefan, he’d kept his beast on a short leash His attack was tight and focused Cooper’s was all over the place, swarht so I battered frantically at it with h and low Cooper circled er, you eejit!" he shouted at ht, you’d need it!"

Duh It hadn’t occurred to r’s hilt and pulled it froht," he said "Now put down the shield You need to be able do this without it"

Without breaking eye contact, I tossed the buckler aside It clattered on the packed dirt My r in ht hand, I felt balanced in a way I hadn’t before