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"They’ve already left you"

The harshness was one thing more than she could bear "Don’t say that! They needfor them! They already lost Dakota--"

"That’s why they can’t lose you, too," Balthazar said "Please, Skye If anything happened to you, I couldn’t bear it" He glanced at her over his shoulder, and in his eyes she sa fear, raw need She knew that she’d meant to keep her distance from him, but that seemed absurd As if she could ever be parted from Balthazar--he was always in her, always a part of her

Down the hall, someone--Coach Haladki?--yelled, "Hey, is so this place up!"

"They shouldn’t see us," Skye whispered, looking around quickly for some kind of exit, but Balthazar found it first

"Co both of the the door shut behind them

Now they were hidden--and they were face-to-face, only inches apart, in a sainst his chest, though she didn’t knohether it was to keep thehtly apart or to touch hi locked in until Mondayto be any fun!" Coach Haladki’s footsteps echoed in the hallway outside Then, in a nor or so suspended"

So quietly it was barely a sound, Skye said, "You foundI shouldn’t have let you out of ht--I went after you when you walked out, but I only saw Keith and followed him--then I had to bust Madison and the rest of the in the library, which was idiotic, but I was stuck"

"Will you come on?" Ms Loos’s voice caht I heard voices!" Coach Haladki protested

Ms Loos replied, fake-sweet, "Maybe it was the echo of your a"

"Fine If they were here, they’re gone Let’s lock up" Coach Haladki walked off, her footsteps beco fainter with each step

Balthazar’s hands covered hers She realized only at his touch how icy with shock her fingers were; he was the one warrave didn’t hurt you, did he?"

"No" That dance didn’t count, she decided, disgusting though it had been "Did you see him come in, or--or sense that he was here?"