Page 51 (1/2)

I felt my mouth move as I tried to form words that would express how equally disturbed and relieved I was to discover that Anya had been the one who broke intowith the end of her braid "I know I shouldn’t have lied to you--"

Before she could finish, I ju, her bony shoulders relaxing beneathsmile as I stepped back "But please don’t ever do that to an to twist one of her earrings "There’s one "

My smile faded

"I never told you my fortune"

Slowly, I lowered the shovel and waited for her to continue

"For httalent Fora new rare skill that a friend would bring out in me"

"You’re a Whisperer," I murmured

Anya nodded, but didn’t rew somber

"And your future?" I asked "What did she say about that?"

Anya fidgeted with her fingernails, unwilling toto lose that friend"

I lowered the head of the shovel to the ground "But --what?"

Her words hung in the air between us as I stood there, unable to move "Did she mean me?"

Anya’s eyes drooped "I don’t have any other friends"

"But it can’t mean that," I said "Zinya told me that I would meet life and death at the end of my search" And then it dawned on me: maybe I would die, and Dante would live "Maybe she o away," I said "Lose doesn’t necessarily ht That’s probably it"

But I barely heard her "Why didn’t you tellit wouldn’t be true That I wouldn’t become a Whisperer That you wouldn’t find the clues to the riddles, or discover the ninth sister But all of that happened"

I blinked

"Renée!" Noah called frolanced over aze "If Zinya knew you were going to die, she would have told you But instead she said life and death Nothing’s certain"

I bitthat to make me feel better, or because she reallyleft to do Dropping the shovel, I ran to the bathroothto Clementine’s roo to uidedopen Anya’s bathrooh them until he found a pair of tweezers "Look for another pair," he said as he knelt in front of thetherinned "It works It’s a screw"

As Noah h the rest of her drawers

"The botto her direction, I rifled through her toiletries until I found another pair, peered into one of the holes, and began unscrewing the tiny bolt within

Noah had already finished the penulti it into a soap dish by the sink, when I felt the final screobble in the hole I pulled out ers and onto the floor

The rabbed my arm and pulled me toward him Anya screaround, shattering across the tiles

When everything had settled, Anya was crouched in the doorway, covering her head Noah was kneeling besideme if I was hurt And where the mirror used to be, there noas an old wooden door

"I’lass crunching beneathvarnish and slanted slats like the kind you see in psychiatric institutions Little wormholes dotted the center

I shook the knob, which was loose The door rattled in its frame but didn’t open

"Move out of the way," Noah said, backing up And with a deter it with his shoulder and bursting through to the other side

There was a loud crash, the sound of wood cracking, and then a groan