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We were close, approaching the corner of the alley, ales rushed arounddown a drain It happened so much faster than before, maybe because ere trapped in the rips’ world, instead of the door for rips The blood in enerated and tried to give

The mask is more than a Mardi Gras favor; it’s my chance to find Jean Claude, to reed to meet me, finally, and his arm reaches out to sweep e er on the curve of my breasts above the corset Air kisses my skin as he pulls down my sleeves and his lips find my shoulder

"Take off thefor you"

Heat rolls off his body, and tension keeps histhe neckline of own "Instead of a bed?"

"Now" He reaches for o back to ht His mouth claims mine before I can tell him to mind the lipstick, and I decide I don’t care

Neorld, new players

"I don’t want to show you anything," the girl yells back at enerous here New Orleans is good to me The beer is cold, and no one ever asks forNot if I drink, not if I squat, not if I steal At the right parties, they don’t even care if I crawl into bed with theet that far, they don’t care what I do next

I stick s, a wallet, cash A set of car keys, a checkbook, and my favorite, a tiny knife with a pearl handle A knife that sliced ed to s with a knife I can hurt someone with a knife

Will anyone care about that?

The possession let up long enough for me to reach out for Dune I could feel hi me whole

"Did you hear?" Carolina is aflutter, her fan flipping her ringlets at a furious pace "The scandal is international She buried bodies beneath the floorboards"

Elizabeth has more to share "There were experiments in the attic She’d peeled back skin and let people--"

"Stop" I speak too loudly for a lady, butto sensationalize These were hus People, with souls"

"But they were just slaves"

I stare at Carolina, wondering how her heart can be so full of darkness Hoe could’ve been raised in the saard for human life "You should be ashamed of yourself I’m ashamed to call you sister"

My request doesn’t stop her "Men and women were chained to the wall, body parts scattered all around in piles and in buckets… "

I coverat the thought of so e that liness or horror I pushed the o Instead they just caround, her head in my lap The rips shuffled her cells like they were a card deck, fores

Kaleb’s focus shifted froround "What the hell is going on?"

"Rips Funneling through her, controlling her"

"Her face …" Lily reached out to put her hand on Hallie’s ar just above it Tears filled her eyes "Kaleb and I ht knoay out, but I’m scared of what could happen to Hallie if the rip world dissolves while she’s possessed"

"So aer belonged to her The faces of those possessing her moved so fast her own features were a blur She was underneath She needed ot to stop this"