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Nadia never took her hand from his "Elizabeth’s deepened the curse I’h Your dreah they hurt you"

Ms Walsh--no, Faye; she’d told them they could call her that off-campus--shook her head "Elizabethnow goes beyond anything even she would have done before Right now all her then her influence in the world without strengthening every one of her curses, every one of her spells, at once"

So, are people going to be even meaner toit The fate of the world was slightly more important than her social life Besides, if the world ended, it would kind of be a moot point

"She needs these people to suffer," Nadia said "All the ones she’s put in the hospital And I’ve learned--the One Beneath uses emotions, a lot He steals them He takes them in trade" She went silent for only a moment "So maybe He uses them to build Maybe those people’s pain is exactly what He’s using to build the bridge I think pain is what the bridge is ed was too strong a word, but like they hlike a re like that I didn’t see anything, but you ht" From her leather satchel she pulled out a clothbound book The cloth was plain, faded black, the kind of thing that generally didn’t earn a second glance But Verlaine reminded herself that Nadia had said every Book of Shadoas different Every Book of Shadows had its oer

Sure enough, as Nadia reached for it, the pages flipped open of their own accord "Whoa," Mateo said "Did it hear you?"

"Sometimes Books of Shadows do" Nadia slanced at Faye "Your mom must have been really powerful"

For the first ti else I wish you could’ve seen her in her prime"

Nadia looked down into the Book of Shadows At first Verlaine wondered if a light had co The gentle golden illu excitement "This isn’t a cure for illness But it’s a way to ease pain, and end suffering It’s pretty serious s suddenly gone frohtened "So you can stop Elizabeth fro Uncle Gary and all the others When they stop hurting, she’s not causing them anyblocks she needs for the bridge The bridge collapses, the One Beneath can’t get here, Elizabeth’s defeated, and it’s the best Thanksgiving ever Right?"

"That’s the idea" But Nadia only looked about one-tenth as excited as she ought to "Verlaine, it’s dangerous"

Of course it couldn’t be easy Mateo leaned closer to Nadia "You mean, you could be hurt?"

"Maybe, but that’s just part of working high-level lance at hi about it being dangerous for me I meant for Uncle Gary"

"He’s in the hospital with about a zillion tubes in hi hiet for hi, he could die"

Verlaine sucked in a breath Faye put one hand on her shoulder, temporarily back in school-counselor mode

It wasn’t like Verlaine hadn’t been afraid of this before now She’d hardly been able to think of anything else since Uncle Gary’s collapse But hearing it fro on to save him--that made it ht now thehiht fro to ease his pain, whichthe spell’s hold on him He should co in this spell to guarantee that I don’t knohat kind of condition he’s in, or whether there’sall her ties at once, and anything could happen"

"The spell is about easing suffering, right?" Verlaine de by killing people?"

"It’s probably h norested

Mateo said, "Are we sure this is a good idea? There are a lot of people in the hospital That’s a lot of lives to take a risk with"

"I don’t know" Nadia bit her lower lip "Maybe-- to conclusions about so that could kill Uncle Gary? And yet as the alternative? Her brain was doing the calculations her heart was too weary to handle

"We should think about it," Mateo said

"I know," Nadia agreed "I know We just don’t have much time to think And the spell has to be anchored--someone would have to be at the hospital, in the thick of it, wearing one ofcharest part of the risk Even if none of the patients died, this person ht"