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A pair of penetrating silver eyes appears on the screens

I recognize the to Purian Rose--the spiritual leader and head of the United Sentry States A hty sees all sinners

Chills run through my body, and I quicken my pace I instinctively head down City End and stop dead in my tracks Why do I always end up here, even when I don’t mean to? I stare up at the Boundary Wall, a stone wall over thirty feet high, covered with posters of Purian Rose urging citizens to vote for Rose’s Law The wall divides the city in two, segregating the hus It would take you over a day to walk around the entire circuhetto known as the Legion, the largest of its kind anywhere in the United Sentry States Every city in the USS’s ninethe hus apart

Behind the Boundary Wall is a second, smaller wall covered in spikes and barbed wire, and beyond thatrelatives live over there:to deal with this tonight, and take the longer route home to the Rise, the district in the northernmost part of the city where the poorest residents live

There are five superdistricts in Black City: the Rise, the Park, the Chiion and the Hub, where the Emissary’s headquarters are located There are nine Eastates, and our Es were sothe air raids last year

I duck under the flimsy wire fence that surrounds the Rise The fence is a rather halfhearted attempt to keep out any Wraths that have escaped over the Boundary Wall They’re feral Darklings infected with the deadly C18-Virus, and they roah to still be outside after curfew Idiots like h the sleepy cobble streets, di my usual path hoh-rise apartovernment had to erect some tenements quickly after Black City was bombed, and they’ve never bothered to cos are already falling down, threatening to topple at the slightest touch Six s collapsed and killed over a hundred people It didn’t evenabout us

I approach two derelict high-rises, which lean against each other like sleeping giants Nestled in the crevice between theled by ivy, the bell tower leaning slightly Ho with deep red fruit, which Molooer tabby cat sits on a nearby headstone and hisses at rowl back, and it scrams

I take another pace, then pause The hairs on the back of looining things I reach the front door and scowl Fresh graffiti is sprayed over the dark wood, just tords painted in large red letters: RACE TRAITOR The letters are so inside

Dad’s sitting in one of the church peaiting for ed another year since I left the house this rayer around the temples, his beard more disheveled, his blue eyes duller It’s difficult to believe he’s the sairl just by s at her

"Where have you been?" he asks

"Out," I say

"Where’s your coat?"

"Lost it," I say, which isn’t technically true I know exactly where it is: under the Hazer girl’s head Maybe I’ll swing by toot it off a Darkling Legion Liberation Front freedoot captured by a Tracker

I walk past Dad toward the pokey rooainst the padlocked door leading down to the crypt is a rusty old camp bed where Dad sometimes sleeps when he’s not down in there, which isn’t very often I don’t think he’s seen daylight in weeks, not since she ca to look at it, not wanting to think about what’s behind it

The rest of the room is taken up with a small table and a few kitchen appliances The rooh on every surface On the floor are several crates filled with tinned food; donations from the locals to hand out on our next charity run Around the kitchen table are three chairs: one for Dad, one for ht years Slung over the back of it is a Lupine-fur coat, which Dad gave to Mo day

I pick up the coat and press ainst the silvery fur I almost believe I can smell Calder lilies on it, the scent of a much happier time A familiar pain bunches up in my chest, and I carefully put the coat back on the chair

On top of the cluttered table is a mountain of bills I pick theirl What had the guards called her? Natalie

I dolefully sift through the bills, trying to focus s, but et some new clients to pay for all of this, and the idea sickensthe kids at my school hooked on Haze, but I have no choice It’s that or we’re out on the streets That’s not good in a place like Black City

"Are you going to tell me where you were?" Dad says as he enters the kitchen

"Library I was returning soht outside after curfew to return some books?"

"What can I say? The library fines are astronomical"

"The library burned down last week"

Oh

"Heavens, Ash, if anyone catches you out after curfew--"

"I know"

"You have to beall over the city now that the Emissary is back in town"

He doesn’t need to remind eneral police force--the Sentry guard--was left behind to control the city Now she’s back to open negotiations with the Legion to extend their territory, and the city is swar with Trackers, a specialist s

I toss the bills on the table "I was getting soot to pay for all these!"

Dad narrows his blue eyes at ?"

I rub the back of my neck