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It had been , not an accusation, but at the moment, Mateo didn’t care His e: Nadia as the beastlike, inhu, ferocious, and brutal If she changed, his Steadfast poould force him to see exactly how quickly her humanity drained away "I don’t know You wantabout it How little you knoin the sound to get this other spell book even though it nearly killed you" And then he said the thing he knew he shouldn’t say but couldn’t hold back "You definitely want your ic more than you want me"
"What?" Her eyes ide, like she had no idea what he was talking about And she knew She had to know "Mateo, you’re notany sense"
"Yeah, I am I love you more than you love me, and we both know it"
"Mateo, please" Nadia kept shaking her head no, which washe’d said was true "Please, don’t"
"I have to get out of here" He grabbed his backpack and headed for the door Just as he pushed down the ladder, though, he hesitated "I’ll bring the knife by tomorrow If you can use it to help Verlaine’s dad, you should"
When Nadia nodded, he could see that he’d made her cry Whichthat wasn’t true It didn’t matter He felt awful anyway
Her voice shook as she said, "Did you just break up with ht "No Because I love you and I can’t help it But I can’t be here right now"
The attic door fell shut behind him, like he’d slaher branches of the tree next to the Caldani hoet onto his motorcycle and roar away One was the crohich looked on with cobweb eyes, projecting every ed along one long, crooked liood," he said to the crow
The bird responded by flapping its broad wings and flying away Asa sighed
He couldn’t see into the attic froe point, and his myriad powers didn’t involve X-ray vision But Asa was close enough to hear Nadia’s sobs They told him all he needed to know
They’re further apart now That estions If even one of them succeeds, I rid myself of Elizabeth And if they’re parted, the One Beneath isHis triumph to Elizabeth, He’ll owe it to ht--rare for him, with his laser-like focus--but this dream was too precious to resist If Asa were free, he wouldn’t have to suffer in hell any longer He wouldn’t have to do the bidding of the One Beneath any longer
but he wouldn’t be able to live in the human world, either At least, not the human world as he no it After the One Beneath’s triumph, there would be little difference between this place and hell Good-bye, internet; good-bye, blue skies; good-bye, Burger King chicken sandwiches; good-bye, loving parents; good-bye, Celtics gahter and Verlaine’s ser Asa realized he’d lost his concentration enough to very nearly set the tree ablaze, and he wasn’t here to start fires
So he rolled off the liht himself with one hand for aon his feet The jolt would have broken bones in a huht had begun to fall In his black coat and dark jeans, he blended easily into the shadows, nothe streets without being seen, without having to pretend to be Jeremy Prasad Not that there weren’t parts of that masquerade he relished--but so able to enjoy this world for what it was
Teeks to Thanksgiving, a holiday Asa had never experienced It seeht to have the joys of this world while they were still here for the having The more brilliant colors of the leaves had faded to brown, and already as round as on the trees Given the heat that radiated from him, he didn’t need a coat; the one he as ood in it Theto don heavier coats, scarves, and those ridiculous knitted hats that nomes reminded hih to nearly start a fire--the night he’d watched Verlaine working on her computer Her silver hair had fallen over her shoulders, and the light froile lines of her face Her eyes had been wide, like she was drinking in every single thing she could learn, everything the world had to offer
That memory was replaced by the one from this afternoon in the hospital, when she’d sluone
Two people, he thought, anger rising inside him Only two humans in the world aren’t ensnared by Elizabeth’s spell Only two of them can see Verlaine for what she really is: her fathers She ht have been allowed to keep them both It was so little, and it was all she had