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31

12:00 AM

NIGHT WATCH

"They&039;re still out there, in the distance"

"Cowering, you mean" Rex leaned back on the hood of Melissa&039;s car, propping his head on his hands

She tasted the air "No, sohts after the flaer had come to Rustle&039;s Botto had ever walked on its hard earth The vast eue with a dry, lonely taste like powdered chalk and sand But she could still sense the darklings and their allies hidden a the low mountains on the other side of the Botto," she said

"For what?"

Melissa shrugged It was a taste, nothing uess"

"They must still be in shock," Rex said "I know I aain "No, they were expecting her"

"Are you kidding?"

Melissa opened her eyes and turned to her old friend

"You&039;ve never tasted the darklings, Rex Maybe you have to be a mindcaster to understand them, but they aren&039;t like us"

She lay back next to hi up at the htened"

"Until last week they never struckcategory, actually"

Melissa shts before, a terror as deep and hte of the world, Rex, squeezed into one hour of the day Pursued by the daylight, by fire andby a species they used to eat for breakfast Literally"

"I guess so"

"I know so I can feel it frohtmare, Rex Clever humans with our tools and nu theiven up Ever since they ran away into the secret hour, they always feared, even knew somewhere deep inside, that one day we&039;d come after them here in the blue time Just like you always know that so, co for you"

She felt the shiver crawl up Rex&039;s spine and giggled

"Hey, cut that out," he coirl"

"Lucky you," she said with a snort, then continued "So they always knew in the pits of their darkling souls that Jessica would coe"

"That&039;s why they were so anxious to kill her"

"Were?" she said softly, and smiled

Melissa could feel it fro It was as focused and bitter as the tip of a lead pencil resting on the end of her tongue Not helpless at all, or stupid, the intelligence that waited in those hills was patient and well prepared Its anis always did, but it wasn&039;t beaten yet They had ency Every dark and ancient mind out there waited in constant, paranoid readiness