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Ruth pulled out a drawer and du"

Val looked in the cabinet, noticing the ballerina again, noticing the loops her ar in, Val picked her up, sticking her fingers through the ars closed and opened, just like scissors

"Get the harp," Val said "I’ll get Luis"

It wasn’t quite dahen they picked their way back through the Ra trails to where they’d left Lolli and what had appeared to be Luis The chords of the harp jangled as they hter to her chest As Val, Ruth, and Luis approached, they saw that the other Luis ake

Lolli’s voice was high and tre up with fever"

The disguised Luis looked at thees and his mouth was dark His skin was pale as paper and had a sheen of sweat over it that ht a cigarette to his lips The smoke didn’t leave his body

"Dave," the real Luis said His voice was even, calm, just like Val’s had been after she’d seen her mother with Tom It was a voice so full of emotion that it sounded like no emotion at all

Lolli looked at Luis, and then at his twin "Wha--what’s happening?"

"You couldn’t tell the difference, could you?" the disguised Luis said to Lolli His face changed, features subtly shifting to become Dave’s The blackened mouth and eyes reasped

He laughed like a maniac, his voice raspy "You couldn’t even tell the difference, but you would never giveshit" Lolli slapped Dave She hit hiainst the hands he threw up to ward her off

Luis grabbed her arain "You think you know me? I’m Sketchy Dave? Dave the Coward? Dave the Idiot? Dave who needs his brother’s protection? I don’t need nothing" He looked Luis in the face "You’re so s Who’s theword for how stupid you are?"

"What have you done?" Luis asked

"He made a deal with Mabry," Val said "Didn’t you?"

Dave srin, the skin of his ht When he spoke, Val saw only blackness beyond his teeth, as though she were looking into a dark tunnel "Yeah, I did a deal I don’t need the Sight to knohen I have so soly wide "I wanted--"

He collapsed, his body shaking Luis sank to his knees next to Dave and reached out to smooth his dreads back from his face, then abruptly pulled his hand back "He’s way too hot It’s like his skin is on fire"

"Never," Val said "He’s been using Never much more than once a day He had to take it this whole time to keep that shape"

"In the movies they put people with crazy fevers in a bathtub with ice," Ruth said

"What, when they OD on faerie drugs?" Lolli snapped

"Grab hih"

Luis slid his hands under his brother’s shoulders "Be careful His body is really warloves" Ruth pulled a pair out of her coat pocket and handed therabbed Dave’s ankles Touching his skin was like grabbing the handle of a pot of boiling water She lifted He was so light, he ether she and Luis hurried down the steps, down the paths of the Rae of the water The heat of Dave’s body scorched her skin through the gloves and he twitched and writhed as if he were fighting soritted her teeth and held on

Luis waded into the water and Val followed, the frigid cold at her calves a terrible contrast to the burn of her hands

"Okay, down," Luis said

They lowered Dave into the water, his body steao and started back to the shore, but Luis held on, keeping his brother’s head above water, like a preacher perfor?" Ruth called

Luis nodded, rubbing his brother’s floating face Val could see that Luis’s hand was bright pink, but whether he was burned or just cold she wasn’t sure "Better, but we have to get hi down at Dave "You fucking moron," she shouted "How could you be so stupid?" She looked suddenly lost "Why would he do this for me?"

"You can’t feel responsible," Val said "If I were you, I think I’d want to kill him"

"I don’t knohat to feel," Lolli said

"Val," said Luis "We have to go ask Ravus for help"

"Ravus?" Ruth deht of Ravus’s face, closed, his eyes dark with fury She thought of the things she knew about Mabry and the things she just guessed about the currency Dave had used to pay for her help "I don’t know if he’ll be willing to now"

"I’ll take Dave to the hospital," Lolli said

"Go with her, okay?" Val asked Ruth "Please"

"Me?" Ruth looked disbelieving "I don’t even know him"

Val leaned close to her "But I know you"

Ruth rolled her eyes "Fine But you owe me You owe me like a month of mute servitude"

"I owe you like a year of mute servitude," Val said and waded into the water to help Luis lift his brother’s body once more Slowly they made their way to the street The first cab they hailed pulled up and then, seeing Dave’s body, drove off before Lolli could grab hold of the door The next one stopped, seeot in and Luis draped his writhing brother across their laps