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Byrne He did know it He re it in horror But didn’t they leave hi bay?

Joshua stepped forward and began whispering in Byrne’s ear He waved his hands as he spoke

Byrne’s s his head

Cole tried to focus on as being said, then noticed the strangea red band around his forehead He wondered if it was his; he wondered if thein return to Joshua, who stepped back and relayed it to the people holding Cole As Joshua stepped aside, Cole realized there was so besides the red band Byrne wore the sae white buttons, his wiry fra out at the shoulders--

But Cole could’ve sworn the last time he’d seen him, Byrne had been in possession of both his arms

15

Cat eventually seemed to tire and make a mistake, and one of the woks fell and rattled silently inside the bubble Molly tried to sense how long the beautiful and brutal display had been going on Half an hour? Longer? Cat pulled her foot out of the way of the spinning wok as her arrimace on her face was visible even fro two e As her head turned, Molly spotted a bright trickle of blue blood leaking out of the Callite’s ear and weaving its way down her brown neck

A led the last toks lower and lower, allowing theround Finally, the torturous and sublime show came to a silent conclusion, but Molly regled to comprehend the powerful display she had just witnessed: a solitary figure, on stage, enduring incredible violence while exhibiting such practiced expertise She had to e soratulate her

Then she rerab Walter and saw that he had passed out across the armrest on the other side of himself

"Walter, are you asleep?"

He lifted his head as the dihts flickered and returned Molly looked to the stage and saw that Cat was gone, the bubble rising slowly toward the rafters

"Iss it over?"

"Yeah, let’s go"

Molly shooed the Wadi to her neck and hurried toward the stairs Behind her, she heard solanced over her shoulder to see the couple in the box seats giving the perforo," she repeated impatiently She turned down the stairwell and took the for Walter to catch up

The lobby was empty save for one man--the ticket hawker from the street--who leaned on a mop Molly ran toward the doors that led down to the lower seats, then whirled to ask hie?"

Thelike a fool

Walter staggered down the last few steps, still half-asleep

"I’m serious," Molly said "I need to speak with Cat"

"Well, you better hurry if you want an autograph" The hed to hi"

"What? Where is she? It’s i "She’soff to a pub to get tore up"

"Thanks!" Molly said She grabbed Walter and pulled him toward the exit

"No problem," the man said He then hollered after them: "But next time, there’s a two tomato minimum!"

ѻѻѻѻ

Molly kept one hand on the Wadi’s back as she ran down the side of the opera house, not so much to keep the creature in place but to let it know the claeren’t necessary, at least not deep enough to sting

At the back of the building, she turned the direction she thought the ticket hawker had pointed and peered down an alley that serviced the rears of ts of businesses In the diht of a few bare bulbs, she could see du to the s Detritus was strewn everywhere, and bits of paper floated in the dark and dusty night air; they caught the feeble light and see intently

Molly hesitated, wishing a Palan flood upon the place Thatfor the alley Squinting into the distance, she thought she saw someone turn a corner half a block away, but she couldn’t be sure

"Drenards!" she cursed

Walter skidded to a stop beside her "Sslon--" he co him the Wadi so her claouldn’t be a concern After he took the animal, Molly set off in a full sprint toward the corner she thought so herself as she ran for not bringing a flashlight Purowing heavy as the treads collected rease

Around the corner, she ca, narrow, and eh buildings on either side blocked out all the streetlights; they rose up so far they see in on one another

Molly called down the passage: "Cat? Hello? Anyone?"

She stepped into the narrow crack between the two buildings and peered toward the shaft of light at the far end The light seemed to come from the streetlamps of a busy road; they pulsed as shapesbehind the silhouettes of a conveyor-like crowd

The din of nighttiical place to find a pub, but the dark alley ency to catch up with Cat, Molly h the alley slowly She could feel raw, childlike fear creep up her spine She silently urged Walter to hurry and catch up

As she crept deeper into the darkness, she felt internally torn The ied her to hurry after the wo for, but the fearful part of her begged to run back, to get out of that dark alley She pleaded with Walter to come faster, for some physical company to wave away the creepiness She was a dozen meters into the dark space when she finally heard hiroped in the darkness for Walter, whispering his na reaching out to grab her