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"That couldn’t be true" The response was autoan to doubt it Was this situation so off on her fingers, Verlaine said, "You meant to stop Elizabeth on Halloween Not only did you not stop her, you inadvertently wound up helping her You’ve tried to kill her twice now Most people wouldn’t look at their attempted murderer and say, ‘Hey, that’s exactly who I want onto recruit you She knows so you don’t Do you think--maybe--your mom traded you to, well"

Verlaine pointed down at the floor Nadia and Mateo both stared

"By that I mean hell," Verlaine said "In case it wasn’t obvious"

"It was" Nadia’s head had begun to spin Maybe that was sleepless nights and stresswith her, but she didn’t think so "I didn’t even think that was possible"

"We don’t know that it is" Mateo shot Verlaine a dirty look; she responded by shrugging, like, Just saying "Listen Your mother can’t have traded you to the One Beneath If she had, He’d already have you Instead Elizabeth keeps trying to get you to join her So you can’t belong to Hiile hope "You really think so?"

"Yeah I do" Mateo’s hand tightened around hers, and Nadia ed a s to confront your et out of town"

Mateo gave her a look "You noticed the quarantine around the town, right?"

"Okay, yeah, that makes it harder, but still--I have to do it," Nadia insisted

"I thought you didn’t even knohere she was," Verlaine said

"I didn’t But after Elizabeth said that--I kinda went through o, actually Twenty s us back to where you’re trying to get out of a town under quarantine" Mateo’s eyes shifted sideways, toward the nearest set of medics from the CDC; they’d worked their way to a table not far off

"I’m a witch I have ways around barricades"

"Yeah, but after the barricades, you have to travel all the way to Providence, get on a plane, get a hotel roo to need cash Do you have a credit card?"

"Oh Right" Magic couldn’t solve every problee I have a few hundred bucks in h," Verlaine said "I can swing you soh, no worries"