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Ten days ago: Her ue, a jue about as comprehensible as a badly edited YouTube video What ca like the pitch of a sh swell Her chest was very hot, the tortured lining of her lungs on fire, even as her body shuddered with cold Mostly, everything was a swirly blur as she swayed back and forth and back and forth--and then she went away again, sinking into the dark waters of unconsciousness She probably did that a couple ti back, she was first aware of a hand cupping the back of her head She was falling, too, and she landed ona bed? A boat? Her head i and stretching as if it had sprouted ar--sorab She was very relaxed, ale if you considered the cold and the steady pressure on her chest, like the heel of a sturdy boot

Then soht cheek The back of a hand-- and were those fingers? Her head lolled toward a coil of scent that was blacksweet, crispChris? Or wait, no--the aroht and then a sigh because she tasted his name in a drea even further, sinking away fro hih of his breath over her tongue, the desire a hot rose that unfurled in her chest A strange liquid heat raced up her thighs, and she felt her back arching, her heart beginning to thuht on her body, her ar into her hair, over her face, and she ers trailed over the sensitive skin of her throat, the ridge of her collarbone, before slipping just a little further--

And that hen she felt a very strange tug

To a zipper? Yes, that’s what it was, and that was fine, it was good; she wanted this and hiely cold, and as that?

Suddenly, all these things--the sensations, her thoughts--slid and shifted like a slow dissolve in a movie Now, there were other hands and a different body on hers The aroave way to shadows and sweet apples as--Chris, that’s Chris--his mouth found hers The , months back in Rule, when she and Chris had kissed in the sleigh: mist and darkness and a blaze of desire as their hands twined, and their bodies, too

Yet there was still so off She felt the hitch, the way her , and then she had it It was the s fetid and spoiled Oozy green pus flooded into her , thedown her throat, and now she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t

"Ugh!" Gasping, she sla to a point as she pulled away froainst a stunning, bright blue sky He wasn’t draped over her body His hands weren’t tracing her cheeks or the angle of her jaw, and his mouth was most certainly not on hers But she was flat on her back, not in the snow but on a sleeping bag, and his fingers orking at a snarl of parka trapped in the teeth of a zipper, and he was trying to undress her

"No!" She gave a spastic little jerk She tried punching, but her arms were lead pipes, herfor her in the mine andWait Knife I have Leopard’s knifeGet up, get up! She bolted to a sit Caught off-guard, Wolf flinched back to sprawl in the snow, dangerously close to a s, she slapped aard fingers along her right leg, clu for the sheath

Soht shoulder and slaot both hands up before Acne--the boy who had been Ben Stieht drop with a hard thurunt If she’d been thinking, she’d have twisted around for a bite or tucked her knees, but she was so panicked that she reared instead, craning her neck, teeth clashing He jerked his face out of the way, a little too far, and that was just as good She felt the pressure on her chest let up, read the bow of his back Acne was off-balance and she wouldn’t have another chance Howling, she raroin

Acne let out an abortive guh! It was like she’d hit the eency override Acne’s eyes went round as headlamps; all the blood fled his face She didn’t think he was even breathing Then he cru his crotch,open to let out this weird, choked aaa

As soon as his weight left her legs, she bucked him the rest of the way Aard as a crab, she scurried off the sleeping bag Her body was electric, as if all the circuit breakers had been reset, the connections sizzling back to life Di thrown, the rasp of metal, and knew the others--wherever they were; she was so ith fear she’d lost track even of Wolf-- had drawn their weapons She didn’t care Screeching, she scrambled to her feet, Leopard’s knife now in hand, and shouted through terrified tears, "Get away, get away, get away!"

Discounting Acne, nowon the snow, and Wolf, there were three others: Marley, that lanky kid with the dreads she reer boys,nose, say little eyes Both had hair that was either very dark brown or black, and toted Bushmaster ACRs, the business ends pointed her way The taller brother was the nervous, twitchy type; the h his pores By contrast, his brother was rounder, shorter, calht, Bert and Ernie

Wolf had made his feet His expression, which was Chris’s in another life, was taut and intent but not drawn in the predatory snarl he wore right before zeroing in on his next Happy Meal A second later, she also sussed out that telltale resin pop, the sparking of pine sap frohty as a heavy coat as the Changed did their weird, unknowable Changedspeakup for a sniff as if about to butt into the conversation Or only land her inside Wolf ’s head again, as had happened in the tunnel during the le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>