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Brandon’s eyes lingered on me for a moment before he bent down to pick up a trowel

"Thank you for co his eyes "The ceremony will take place just outside of Wreck Island"

I had expected a war I was one of his sister’s best friends

"Where’s Eleanor?" I asked, looking over his shoulder to see if I could spot her blond ringlets I wanted to tell her about e, and the letter my mom had written to her

Brandon looked puzzled "She’s not here," he said, as if it were obvious

"What? Why?"

"Only Monitors can attend a Monitor burial"

"Oh Right," I mumbled Eleanor wasn’t a Monitor anymore; she was the enemy "How is she--" I started to ask, but Brandon didn’t let , that would be helpful," he said, and handed the couple behind me two shovels

"Yeah, okay," I said slowly, stung by how quickly he had brushed me off

The deck was croith Gottfried professors and a handful of older people that I didn’t recognize Genevieve Tart and a few other girls fro by the wine table in sleek dresses, chatting When they sawWaiters dressed in black suits wove through the crowd carrying platters of hors d’oeuvres a without a partner" "Careless mistakes" "The Undead" "She didn’t even have a shovel on her"

No shovel? In my dream I had taken the shovel from her and dropped it into the lake Could it have been real? I continued listening, but it wasthe word "Undead" spoken in public, but everyone here was a Monitor, so there wasn’t any reason for secrecy The only person not engrossed in conversation was Eleanor’sa drink and looking out to the horizon A waiter offered her a canapé, but she waved him away

Beyond them, the waves crashed onto the rocky shore, where a wo a dress that twisted around her in the wind like the trunks of the trees Ducking beneath the lines that held the sails, I et a better look, but people crowded past ain, the wo at the spot where I thought I had seen her The salty air blew throughmy eyes wander to the open casket on the other side of the boat I was so disturbed by her death, and by the letter s

"Renée," a boy said from behind me, and I turned Brett Steyers, a friend from Gottfried and Eleanor’s former boyfriend, stood there in a navy suit, his sandy hair blowing in the sea breeze "Where have you been hiding all suled in the wind "Ata smile

"I bet," he said

I furrowed ," he said, tracing the lines in the wooden deck with his shoe "So when did you find out about all of this?" His gaze drifted across the other Monitors, and I realized that he and I had never before spoken of the Undead

"Last winter," I said softly "You?"

"Last spring," he said

"Are you still in touch with Eleanor?" I asked

Brett shoved his hands into his pockets, shaking his head ever so slightly "What about you and…" He let his voice trail off Everyone knew that the Gottfried professors were searching for Dante

Looking away, I watched a gull land on the deck and peck at a discarded hors d’oeuvre "No," I said

"People are saying he and his friend Gideon killed the head that night Dante had been protecting me, while Gideon, another Undead, had taken the head before they finally went still Gideon died after that; Dante pulled hiave Dante my soul to save his life I died for hiave my soul back to me He wasn’t a murderer I wanted to scream it into the wind until everyone knew the truth, until it sank into their bones But how could I possibly explain everything, let alone prove that he wasn’t dangerous?

"And they say that Dante’s on the run That he left for Canada" He searched my face for an answer

"Dante would never kill anyone," I said defensively "As for Canada, I wouldn’t know"