Page 76 (2/2)

"Yeah?" I pulled my hat down further around my ears Without that plastic mask, I felt self-conscious in public, especially now that es I looked like a piece of rotting e around his neck Hol to anyone except Lena, and then only in dark whispers I didn’t need Tom to tell me that the last few days had been hard

"Dude, justyou need to get yourself out, now Like, guns? Soldiers for hire? A whole fairlfriend? You’re not married to her, and I really like Charlotte, I think she’s interesting and, honestly, really scary, but I kind of think that if you keep following her around, you’re going to wind up dead"

"August’s taken care of it," I said

Toed "Maybe If so, it’s a hell of an anticlimax, isn’t it?"

Before I could respond, Hol doors in their dark jackets and hats Lena slipped her gloved hand into Tom’s back pocket "Ready?" she asked

"Let me know if the Gers," Hol every last one of them off I think you have a complete set I don’t think my surveillance videos would be perh evidence to at least lean on the government to write you a check"

"It’ll be fine," Lena said "I kind of like the paintings, anyway I htly "If they give you trouble," she said, "tell theht onto the canvases to look for cat hair"

"Cat hair?"

"Hadrian’s trouser cuffs were coated in it White," she said, "so I assuenberg famously died alone It eeks before they found hi eaten--"

I wondered how long she’d been sitting on that information

"No cats Got it I’ll tell them, if they ask" Lena leaned in to kiss her rooe of red where her lips had been "Bye, guys Merry Christmas See you back at school!"

Holht"

We ust at the airstrip The Greystone plane was there waiting for us, and he was too, standing at the foot of the stairs ept hair and exhausted eyes He looked like a photograph of hi

We all nodded to each other, too tired to say ainst h the layers of sweaters and scarves and coats, I could still feel her shivering, and so I held on to her le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>