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"What are you suggesting?" asked Nix "That we march into his camp and ask him to release those kids?"

"I don’t know, but we have to do soitation and began walking back and forth as he spoke "I can’t just go on withto just go on destroying other fa to stop theht, people wouldn’t do anything They’d let families live on the street and starve I can’t That’s not the kind of world I want to live in"

"But the caht about it "Maybe twelve Maybe twenty"

"Too h of us," said Lilah, finishing the thought

Benny suddenly straightened "Wait, wait … Let h of us Right … riiiight …" He trailed off and looked at the rocky ceiling, as if he could see out of the cave and through the mountain and all the way to Charlie’s ca in his head But the idea was insane and stupid It was absurd and impossible

"What is it?" asked Nix

"H?"

He hadn’t realized that he was, and he certainly had no reason to smile The idea that had started to take form in his head wasn’t funny It was suicidal

"Okay," he said, his eyes brighter than the laht "I have an idea, but you won’t like it"

"Tell," insisted the Lost Girl

"For this to work," said Benny, "we’ll need to create a diversion and then get the kids out"

"What kind of diversion? The guys are used to being out here They’re always on guard Whatever we do, they’ll see it coe, very dark grin "No," he said, "I can guarantee you they won’t see this co"

And he told them what that was

47

LILAH AND NIX STARED AT BENNY IN TOTAL SILENCE FOR MORE THAN TWO an to bubble and burn; the waterfall roared softly in the background Somewhere deep in the cave, water dripped with the constant rhythm of a metronome Benny stood there and waited out the silence

"You are crazy," said Lilah

"Probably," said Benny

"Are you serious?" asked Nix

"As a heart attack," said Benny

Lilah took the burning stew off the fire and set it on the rocks She leaned toward Nix "Is he … daed?" She touched her head to indicate where the suspected daht lie Nix held one hand up and seesawed it back and forth

"Opinions vary," she said

"It could work," said Benny

"We could die, Benny," Nix said

"We could," admitted Benny "Maybe ill"

"Maybe not," said Lilah, and they both looked at her A crooked smile had worked its way onto her lips, and she appeared to be re-evaluating his plan

"Maybe not," repeated Benny

Nix ran her fingers through the red tangles of her hair "Maybe not," she agreed eventually, although with far less conviction

The shadows made the cave seem as vast as outer space

"You do understand that this plan is crazy," Nix said

"Yes," said Lilah, tapping her skull again "Very crazy"

"No doubt" Benny nodded "But it’s also justice"

Nix snorted "Justice is dead"

Benny broke out into another twisted grin "It sure as hell is"

The Lost Girl turned to hiht and dark as his

It took Nix another few seconds, but then the crazy sense of it took hold in the cracks that had been torn in her heart by Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Haers s the kinds of s on it

48

ONCE THE IDEA WAS OUT, THEY TACKLED IT AND WRESTLED IT AND BANGED it into a weird shape It became immediately clear that they had to move fast and start at once Lilah’s trove of weapons and equip they needed As they sorted through the supplies, Lilah never took her eyes off Benny, and he was uncomfortably aware of it Just as he are that Nix never took her eyes off Lilah, and Benny wondered if Nix was trying to telepathically transe If so, Lilah was either ihts, or didn’t care Or h puberty--she had no clear understanding of what she was feeling, what signals she was sending, and the co was here to explain it to hi the equiph her maze of booby traps, then back directly into the forest Shepaths that were secret as well as efficient They struggled to keep up as they crossed running water, clih thorny thickets, and ran along gaht The day felt like the hottest of the whole summer, and sweat poured out of the a purpose put iron in their liainst Charlie ignited fires in their chests that burned hotter than the sun

The bounty hunters’ camp was on the far side of the mountain, and it took theuided thee They flattened out on the edge of the narrow cliff and pulled foliage over the up through forestland to a plateau as flat as a tabletop Three traders wagons were positioned to block each path, their sides reinforced with sheet metal The teams of horses were corralled in the center of the ca a carpet coat, even in the afternoon heat Without saying a word, Lilah slowly pointed out each guard and the otheraround the camp

Nix cursed very quietly under her breath There were twenty-three lanced at Benny, but he kept his jaw set, so she didn’t see the new fear that washis heart jump around in his chest The resolve he’d had back in the cave--one part bravery, one part need for revenge, and a couple parts craziness--felt suddenly brittle

He had not expected there to be soeyes found the pen where they were holding the kids It was a pen, too, the kind used for keeping pigs Two guards stood watch over the captives, and through the shi heat haze, it took Benny a couple of tries to count them all There weren’t a dozen kids There were nineteen of them Other bounty hunters must have joined the caher nuuards and captives

Nineteen kids Five boys, fourteen girls The oldest looked to be twelve, the youngest about eight They were all hunkered down, tied together by ropes that were attached to s in the leather collars each of them wore