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My grandfather interrupted hts "Renée, this is what you were born to do It will always be inside of you, no ht it Any talent can be used for both good and evil If you think it’s unfair, then use your talents toI’m supposed to train to kill the Undead? Even if I wanted to, which I don’t," I stressed, "I wouldn’t kno"

"There are a number of options One way to ‘kill’ an Undead, so to speak, is to coh I find that method to be a little messy and hard to control The fire spreads, and suddenly you have the California wildfire situation

"An alternative method is to capture the Undead and bury or embalm it by force Your parents were fond of that erous, but they found it the most humane"

I sed I didn’t want to do any of that

"Of course, there is another option"

I twisted the telephone cord around

"Teach them how to value the lives of others The way that Gottfried does The way that your parents did, as ‘teachers’"

"And you? You’re a Monitor too?"

"It’s in our blood In your blood"

"A Monitor," I repeated softly

The realization came over me quickly, and when it did, I collapsed back into my chair If Dante found his soul somewhere and tried to take it back, I would have to kill hiradually waste away Any way I looked at it, the outcorandfather was saying so the conversation short, I told hi on a coat, I climbed into the chimney

CHAPTER 18

The Gentlemen’s Ballet

I RAN DOWN THE HALL OF THE BASEMENT AND slipped out the fire escape and into the cool New England night I had to talk to Dante Once outside, I snuck around the building and was about to run onto the path when someone whispered my name

"Renée" I ju for me in the shadows by the stoop "I looked for you in the nurses’ wing, but you weren’t there Are you okay?" Putting a finger to

I told hi

"But what I still don’t understand is why Gideon killed Eleanor," I said Dante thought "Last spring, when Gideon suspected Cassandra was dead, he was furious He wanted revenge"

"So he went and found the files," I murmured, "to see if she had been buried, and if so, to find out who did it"

Dante nodded "He found so in the files Some sort of evidence"

My shoulders dropped when I realized it "Minnie’s drawing Her testimony She said that Brandon Bell was the one who did it"

"Killing Brandon would have been very difficult, considering he’s a Monitor, so Gideon decided to kill his sister," Dante said "But he didn’t just kill her He purposely turned her into an Undead, the one thing he knew Brandon wouldn’t be able to live with"

"Brandon understood what had happened to Eleanor," I continued, "and wanted to punish the person who killed her He found Nathaniel with Eleanor’s diary and the files, and assumed it was him, then buried hie," I said "Just like a Greek tragedy"

"Brandon is losing it," Dante said when I was finished "He’s doling out his own personal justice"