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I place the twin-blood boy’s green jacket on the floor by Polly’s feet and open the curtains The starlight illu the patchwork of scars across her skin One side of her face is al her once-beautiful features It’s weird, though I hardly register the scars any sister to reen jacket on the floor

"I found it Well, I didn’t exactly find it" I tell her aboutthe twin-blood boy in the underpass "It was insane--he could’ve killed lances up at ain, I proripsme Her expression is intense

"Don’t be afraid to do what’s right Don’t let Father’s death be for nothing"

She releases laze over, lost in that dreaain So to live in this reality I kiss her forehead, pick up the jacket and head toaround ht How can she still think that after everything that happened to her and Father? She was always braver than me

I enter my room and kick aside the unopened cardboard boxes that clutter the plush white carpet The balcony s have been left open all day, and it’s wintry cold in here, but that’s how I like it I drop the dark green jacket beside my pillow and chuckup my new black and red school unifor around these days, and that’s only because I’ve known her my whole life Besides, she’s no threat All do for a Sentry fa-size bed

"Do you want me to unpack these boxes?" Martha asks

"No, I’ As soon as the boundary negotiations are over, I’ivesback to Centrue around one of the cardboard boxes until I find the small square box wrapped in fancy paper and pass it to Martha She carefully unwraps it and opens the box to reveal a bangle old

"I’ve had it engraved," I say

Martha reads the inscription: Martha Zhao 00118 Property of Natalie Buchanan, Black City HQ, the Hub

"It’s your new identity bracelet Do you like it?" I ask

Martha nods slightly, not saying anything She ift She slips it on

There’s a low hissing sound by the balcony s, and my kitty, Truffles, leaps off the balustrade and pads into the roo a tiny speckled fur ball, he has the attitude of a cat ten tio before that cat attacks me," Martha says

She leaves, and Truffles pounces onto my bed and sits on my lap I scratch the back of his velvety pink ears

"So where have you been, huh?" Truffles purrs and rubs his nose against reen jacket draped over e around the pockets, curious to see what’s inside All I find is a handful of loose change, a packet of cigarettes and an old playing card The design on the back swirls and weaves around itself, like it’s alive, creating new designs every few seconds I flip the card over and lightly trace ers over the two hearts: one red, one black

I chuck the jacket on the floor and lie back, looking at the ceiling When ere kids, Polly and I used to play a version of I Spy where we’d search for patterns in the textured plaster I spy a lion, a three-eared rabbit, a phoenix, the face of a Darkling boyMy eyelids start to become heavy I quickly slip into a deep, troubled sleep, ht inside a dark, e, and instantly I know soe I stretch outit to be cold and hard, but instead it’s warers are sticky with blood

So stirs I’m not alone

Fear rises up insideprecious, but I can’t remember what it is All I know is that they want it back I have to get out of here before I’m discovered I try to y earth I sense the Thing getting closer, searching for me I try to remain calm, but then it happens The cave starts to close around et closer and closer, until they’re squeezingsuffocated, I--

I wake up with a start,a htirl, and it still scares ave et solow like embers In the distance I can just make out the dark line of the Boundary Wall Centru back here My insides feel hollow I have no one: isters my existence, and my sister is like a zombie most of the ti out a pointed yawn

"Cats are supposed to be nocturnal, you know?" I say

He

"At least I have you," I say

His hackles rise, and he dashes back insideto see what it was that spooked hi Crazy cat

Still, I’ that so me

5

ASH

"GET UP, YOU LAZY ASS!"

I throw a stone at the yellow barge moored on the canal, close to where the Haze appointround, so she’s either alive or there’s a zowooden wall, then plops into the water There’s no sign of life Right, you asked for it I push against the barge with allit until Beetle’s pale face appears in one of the boat’s dusty s He idly scratches his scruffy brown hair, then sticks his e

There’s no polite way of putting it; Beetle’s roo clothes heaped in piles on the floor, cigarette butts ground into the threadbare rug and several dinner plates with so over theion Liberation Front poster, featuring a stylized black-and-white photo of Sigur Marwick--the Darkling a defiantly into the distance, toward a "better tole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>