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The daila wide "You sht, I slammed the botto thud in uidance counselors across the nation It wouldn’t kill him, but it sure as hell made me feel better

I threw the busted lamp down and raced to theI pushed it open just as the dailed into the , perching there as I stared at the ground below, assessingover the small porch off the back of the house

The part ofbalked at the idea of ju from a second storyThe other part--the part that had the blood of the gods running through it--jumped

The metal roof made a terrible sound when e and leapt once nored the stunned looks fro on I did the one thing I’d been trained never to do duringI didn’t want to do, but knew I had to

I ran

With my cheeks still damp with tears and my hands stained with my mother’s blood, I ran

CHAPTER 7

A deep nuas station bathrooether under the rush of icy water, watching the basin turn red, and then pink, and then clear I kept washing my hands until they, too, felt numb

Every so often a spass andand running until an ache had settled so far into my body that every step had jarred arden spade as if I needed to assure myself that it was still within reach I’d placed it on the edge of the sink, but it didn’t feel like it was close enough

Turning off the faucet, I picked it up and slid it under the waistband of es bit into the flesh ofthe little stab of pain

I left the dingy bathroo in no particular direction The back of s protested the whole walking thing I’d take a few steps, touch the handle of the spade through my shirt, walk some more and repeat

Take the o? We didn’t have any close friends that we’d trusted with the truth The o to the police, but what could I say to them? By now, someone would have called 911 and her body would’ve been found Then what? If I went to the authorities, I’d be placed in the state systeh I was seventeen We’d exhausted all of our money in the last three years and there were no funds left over except the few hundred dollar bills in et cheaper rates whenever we’d had bills to pay

I kept walking as my brain tried to answer the question of what happens now? The sun was beginning to set I could only hope the humidity would ease off soe andto put as o?

Like a sucker punch in the stoht, when she’d told e of her escaped reen eyes

A sharp stab of pain caused my step to falter The ache in my chest, in my soul, threatened to consume me I can’t do this Not without her

I had to do this

In spite of the huthe crowds for the horrific face of a daiic they wielded would have an effect on h time to make it run for it, but they obviously could sense the little aether I had in me It didn’t seem likely that they’d followand drain us if they happened across us, but they wouldn’t seek us out The diluted aether in us wasn’t as appealing as that of the pures

I wandered the streets aimlessly until I spied a et off the streets before nightfall Miairl skipped around happily

After grabbing soers frouy behind the counter didn’t look twice at the sweaty girl standing in front of hi for a roo as I paid in cash, he didn’t even care that I didn’t show any ID

My room was on the first floor at the end of narrow,from some of the rooms, but I was more disturbed by the dirty carpet than the low moans

The bottoers and drink to my other arm as I opened the door to room 13 The irony of the number didn’t pass me by; I was just too tired and out of it to care

Surprisingly, the rooed into the wall outlet I set arden spade Lifting ers over the indentations the blade had left in my skin

It could be worse I could be like my mo--