Page 38 (2/2)

"I wonder why he’s out so late alone," Ihim pick at his food

"Do you know about him?" Noah asked from over my shoulder

"Knohat?"

"He was one of the best Monitors in his class My father told me he was fearless; always the first to volunteer, and later the first one on the trail of an Undead They used to be friends a long tiot married and had a son Apparently I was friends with the kid ere both younger, though I can’t remember any of it"

"You don’t see him anymore?"

Noah shook his head "He died when he was ten Fell out of a tree in their front yard"

I raised rief, Dr Newhaus decided that instead of burying him, he would wait until his son reani apart"

"What do you mean?"

"Dr Newhaus decided to homeschool his son The rumors are that his anted to bury the boy, but Dr Newhaus couldn’t bear it Supposedly that hat eventually destroyed their family--not the death itself, but Dr Newhaus’s inability to cope with it"

"What do you mean, it destroyed their fa a tray was standing behind Dr Newhaus, speaking to hihts and didn’t seem to hear her Only after she touched his ar hied "You kno it ends Folly after folly, and eventually he had to bury hiazed at Dr Newhaus through my reflection in the"When did all of this happen?" I said, o, ist"

"I want to go," I said, tearing myself away froh I wasn’t sure if I meant here at the café, or here in Montreal, or here in general Everything was too co into the night I followed his gaze down the street, where the block lights of a theater stuck out over the awnings "Hey Do you want to see a ht was a black-and-white film about a man who plotted to murder his wife I shuddered as I stared at the dull colors of the movie poster, which see as Noah bought two tickets, a bag of buttery popcorn, and two large sodas We were the only people in the theater, and took seats right in theto love it"

It wasn’t until the movie started that I realized it was entirely in French, with no subtitles

"They’re talking so quickly I can barely understand them," I whispered to Noah as he passed me the popcorn

After a"Oh no," he said "I forgot"

Clearing his throat, he leaned toward an to translate, his voice deep and accented I slid down inainst each other So in scratchy French and the fly that landed on the projector lens, I fell asleep, my dream a chaotic swirl of murder and betrayal, ofas we ran, hand in hand, into white light

Hours later, a ed lohite, and popcorn was strewn about our feet Noah’s head was resting on my shoulder, his hand sweaty and wrapped around mine "Renée," heofof him

I realized then that for the first time in months, my dream had been my own

Chapter 11

DECEMBER IN MONTREAL WAS DARK AND BLEAK, inds so strong they could blow a person over, and snow that buried parking meters and bicycle stands From the s of our classrooms the city looked post-apocalyptic and abandoned For ht I had known, the world colored by Dante, was gone now, and everything felt vacant and et out of bed The prospect of facing the day see for my exams, and every time the voice inside me screamed, Search for the ninth sister!, I silenced it Eternal life doesn’t exist, I told roup of smart women who protected a secret about literature or politics Iend And even if it wasn’t, as the point in searching for it? The only reason I wanted to find their secret was because of Dante, because I wanted to be with him for eternity But I didn’t know if I wanted that anyed between Noah and h it happened so quietly that it was hard to catch We still went on walks together, wandering through the slushy streets after classes to get a bite to eat, or studying for exams with Anya, on a rickety table at the coffee shop, an espressoappeared the sa about the way he studiedmade me think he understood

"Hey, maybe the ninth sister was a doctor," he’d say in the ht as I stared out theat the sno on the street "Maybe that’s why the riddle was hidden at the Royal Victoria"

I shrugged "Maybe"

"Or maybe she was very sick," Anya said, "and hid the riddle beneath the bed where she was treated"

Noah scratched the stubble on his chin "I guess anything’s possible We could check hospital records What do you think, Renée?" he said gently, trying to catch aze