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I finally was able to screaht befor the lead

That was the last sight I remember

28

I can’t believe they let you out of the hospital to come to a wake" Bruno shook his head and handed arita I licked some of the salt off the wide rim to blend with the sweet, powerful drink as it slipped down my throat

"Well, I was nearly healed anyway, and they had to let me out tomorrow by court order I have to report to Birchwoods" The authorities have no sense of humor They tried to prove telepathic areed to take a battery of tests, all of which I failed spectacularly I’m not a telepath I’m a siren But they didn’t ask that specific question, and my attorney felt no need to offer the information Said it "wasn’t pertinent"

"You should have appealed," Emma added "You know the law school faculty would have helped you fight it You’re aderous ani?"

I shook"There were a lot of witnesses to the Birchwoods incident But they couldn’t push too hard Not after somebody leaked it to the press Besides, there must have been twenty ordained priests, pastors, rabbis, andthe deo, and I’d been forced into agreeing to an inpatient stay until the extent of my disability is known

Bruno nodded at Emma "The Feds pushed to put her in a state facility"

That h "Fat chance I can afford Birchwoods Sixty days, with day passes for Vicki’s and Gibson’s funerals, and I get to stay in Vicki’s old room that looks out over the ocean I can do that" I hadn’t asked for the view, Dr Scott had insisted Partially because of y After all, he’s the one who’d pushed for Dr Greene to be my therapist

They laughed just as another poor soul stepped up onstage to assault our ears with bad karaoke This ti "Wind Beneath My Wings" and the air chilled again and confetti began to spin and rain down on the hardwood floor It was nice that Vicki had decided to attend her oake

Her parents weren’t too happy with this particular aspect of her last wishes I think they’d expected a more somber affair, a tasteful memorial service that the press could attend, rather than a ake at La Cocina y Cantina, with cheesy sombreros and piñatas for decorations The piñatas were filled with both confetti and little pouches of Pop Rocks--Vicki’s favorite guilty pleasure when she got drunk The place sounded like there were firecrackers going off after we broke open the first papier-mâché burro, and the cops had come in more than once, only to leave with annoyed shakes of their heads when they saw the cause of the commotion The police are my special escort The court deemed me a security risk because too e was afraid so Since I report for uards at the door of the wake and Dr Scott attending to be sure I wasn’t endangering anyone He seeame of darts in the corner with El Jefe was any indication

"This was their song" I said it to nobody in particular as Alex began to cry and raised one hand to touch the cold breeze swirling around her head, still singing into theEmma nodded and smiled, too Yeah, this party really hat Vicki wanted and there was no denying that Jason and Cassandra’s daughter was having the time of her undead existence Everybody who’d ever known her was there I’d had to really dig into online records to find everyone she’d listed on the back of the napkin

When the song was done, I looked up to see that Bruno was staring hard at soaze to see John Creede sitting on the other side of the bar, next to Cassandra They were really glaring daggers at each other and I nudged Bruno to get his attention But he was lost in his oorld, so I just shrugged and started to talk to Eain It was nice to be able to talk to her

I tried to touch on the subject delicately "Have you heard from Kevin?"

Emma shook her head, her face both concerned and sad "Not since he resigned from the university But"--she reached into her pocket and pulled soot to give it to you"

It was a plain white envelope with my name printed on the front I slit it open and looked inside It held a yellow sticky note with two sentences written on it

Lydia is first, then Erikson I’ll be back for you