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THE GIRL ON THE BRIDGE

Prague, early May The sky weighed gray over fairy-tale rooftops, and all the world atching Satellites had even been tasked to surveil the Charles Bridge, in case the… visitors… returned Strange things had happened in this city before, but not this strange At least, not since video existed to prove it Or to milk it

"Please tell me you have to pee"

"What? No No, I do not Don’t even ask"

"Oh, coirl"

"I know Life is so unfair I’ to pee on Karou’s ex-boyfriend for you"

"What? I wasn’t even going to ask you to" In her most reasonable tone, Zuzana explained, "I just want you to pee in a balloon so I can drop it on him"

"Oh" Mik pretended to consider this for approximately one and a half seconds "No"

Zuzana exhaled heavily through her et was standing ten feet in front of the an interview It was not his first interview It was not even his tenth Zuzana had lost count Whatit on the front steps of Karou’s aparth attention froencies without the address being splashed on the news for all and sundry

Kaz was busilya nae," as Karou was being called in the wake of the extraordinary els," breathed the reporter, as young and pretty in the usual catalog-model-meets-assassin way of TV reporters "Did you have any idea?"

Kaz laughed Predicting it, Zuzana fake-laughed right along with hiirlfriend is on their bad side?"

"Ex-girlfriend," hissed Zuzana

"Both, I guess," laughed the reporter

"No, neither," admitted Kaz "But there were always mysteries with Karou"

"Like what?"

"Well, she was so secretive you wouldn’t believe it I mean, I don’t even know her nationality, or her last name, if she even has one"

"And that didn’t bother you?"

"Nah, it was cool A beautiful, irl? She kept a knife in her boot, and she could speak all these languages, and she was always drawing monsters in her--"

Zuzana shouted, "Tell about how she threw you through the !"

Kaz tried to ignore her, but the reporter had heard "Is it true? Did she hurt you?"

"Well, it wasn’tlaughter "But I wasn’t hurt It was uess I scared her I didn’t ht, and she was jumpy She was bloody all over, and barefoot in the snow"

"Hoful! Did she tell you what happened?"

Again Zuzana shouted "No! Because she was too busy throwing hih the !"

"It was a door, actually," said Kaz, shooting Zuzana a look He pointed at the glass door behind hiht here?" The reporter was delighted She reached out and touched it like it lass of a door once shattered by the flung body of a bad actor was some kind of important symbol to the world

"Please?" Zuzana asked Mik "He’s standing right under the balcony" She had the keys to Karou’s flat, which had co her friend’s sketchbooks froet their hands on theht now, thanks to Kaz, it was too ht drop onto his head And you did drink all that tea--"

"No"

The reporter leaned in close to Kaz Conspiratorial "So Where is she now?"

"Seriously?" Zuzana muttered "As if he knows Like he didn’t tell the last twenty-five reporters because he was saving this excellent secret knowledge just for her?"

On the steps, Kaz shrugged "We all saw it She fleay" He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it, and looked right into the ca than he deserved to be Kazthat could be revoked for bad behavior "She fleay," he repeated, wide-eyed with fake wonder He was perforain, with onlyreally old

"And you have no idea where sheoff, disappearing for days She never said where she went, but she was always exhausted when she came back"

"Do you think she’ll coaze into the caroaned like she was in pain "Ohhh,back to the reporter, he said, "The only good thing is that I can use it in s out a richer perforh about Karou, let’s talk about me