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The hthouse perched on the rocks above ain, and the rest of the landscape snapped into focus Sandy beach, frothing water, a few seagulls and terns circling overhead in the night sky

Soh the marsh, across the island, and into the cove where Owen and I had made love yesterday Now that I knehere the hell I was, all that was left to do alk the short distance to the beach house Finn, Bria, and Oere sure to be waiting there for ht have happened to theet away from Dekes’s men after all

But there was only one way to find out and to let them knohat had happened toof er than it should have to walk through the cove, trudge down to the shore, and reach the beach house, but eventually I stuainst the side of the house for a ed as loudly as I could on the sliding glass door

I don’t kno long I stood there, but the world went fuzzy again Suddenly, a face loolass - a pale face fra things for the third ti here?"

The dwarf’s black eyes widened at the sight of me, and she hurried away from the door

"Wait," I said in an even weaker voice,out from under me "Come back"

I landed hard on my ass on the deck and flopped over onto my side, like a fish tossed into the bottom of a boat The wood still felt war cheek, and I feltto lie here just for a second, I proet back up and pound on the glass until somebody let me into the house

But the weariness crept up on me before I knew it, andas it should have been For one thing, I kept hearing people talk, ulls, each one crying out, one right after another

"She just walked up to the house?"

"Look at her neck"

"Her collarbone’s broken, and she’s lost a lot of blood"

"This is all my fault Callie’s my friend I should have found another way to help her"

"I’et to hith to voice et to him first

Eventually the voices quieted down, but that’s when the needles started Thousands and thousands of the my skin like tiny, invisible red-hot pokers For a ht that Dekes had soain, but this pain felt different Duller, cal even In fact, the needles alo, darling," a loeet voice whispered in my ear "Just relax, and I’ll take care of you, just the way that I always do"

So about that voice soothed me, o and spiraled down into the darkness once more

Slowly, the needles faded away, and the still, quiet blackness returned But before long, colors and sounds began to flicker in ht that I was drea

I’d been in the woods for an hour - what seeest hour of my life After I’d read Fletcher’s note, I’d curled up at the base of a edtears and deep, aching hurt I felt at the fact that the old ht me out here on a ruse and du the decency to face et the hell out of his restaurant and life - forever

I would have gone quietly, if only he’d askedFletcher had wanted me to - that’s how important he’d becoht Fletcher had cared about me, that maybe he’d even started to love me, just a little bit, like I had him But instead, he’d leftAnd why? I just didn’t understand why

More tears slid down my cheeks, and Fletcher’s voice whispered in my mind, despite y, and resources That was one of the very first things that Fletcher had ever said to birds that had gathered in the liht that saying was so clever, that Fletcher was so smart and wise, but now I knew the truth - and just how mistaken about hiht about Fletcher, the more my hurt and bewilderment turned to bitterness - and determination too So the old man had left me out here in the middle of nowhere So what? I’d find my way off this mountain We’d driven up here in a car, whichdistance It ht take me a while, but I’d find it, and I’d hitchhike back to Ashland and live on the streets again No matter what, I’d survive, just like I had when ain

Furious now, I swiped away the last of my tears and unzipped the backpack that Fletcher had so casually givenA compass, a bottle of water, a pack of ain, Fletcher never brought much with hi off the land, as he called it, and he’d taught me how to do the same So I wasn’t too worried about the lack of supplies

I ht have just been tossed aside like trash, but I wasn’t going to give up I didn’t need Fletcher, and I didn’t need him to care about me - not anymore That’s what I told myself over and over, even if the little voice in the back ofswig from the bottle of water, then stuffed it and theI got tothe pack so that it rested comfortably on

Since I was so close to the top of the et s Maybe I’d even be able to spot the road from the summit It orth a shot

It took me an hour to break free of the last of the trees and reach the peak of Bone Mountain I stepped out onto the rocky ridge and stared at the sweeping vista before reen stretched out as far as I could see, the new buds on their blosso into the clouds overhead The hipped led mess, and I could smell the cool scent of rain in it