Page 66 (1/2)

I hear my voice in the temple, and Bay’s voice in my head, and Maire and Oceana, too They speak withthe same miracle, for Atlantia to be saved

"The people of Atlantia need you," I say "And you need us We need to help each other"

The gargoyle gods look down I have seen their counterparts all azes I can alh Bay’s eyes, what she sees now in the teods look like the creatures of the Below For the people Below, they are the aniods Whether we made them or discovered them, they are the same And we are the same We are all human, Above and Below Even the sirens They are different, but difference does not have to mean death It can mean life Ours, and yours"

The te But he is s He thinks I have made a mistake He knows I spent it all on that word--Listen I asked them to listen, and they do, even Nevio But he thinks that as soon as I a and the power of that word is broken, he will be able to come in and finish me, make short work of all I’ve said Because he won’t hesitate to use his voice on the them what to do

Don’t think of him Think of your mother and your aunt and your sister Think of the boy Bay loves Think of the boy you love

"It will be thewe have ever done," I say "We will have to care about those in the other world asus For me this is easy, because my sister is there She is not with er feel Bay with one? What has happened Below?

In thatof her, and the power of my voice is spent

Nevio s," he says, leaning over the pulpit "The Below had their tied, to make decisions about who lived and where Now it is your time And remember, the Beloned the sirens Those abnorirl is one of them"

"The sirens are human," I say "No better or worse than any other humans Nevio knows this He is a siren, too"

Murmurs and cries break out in the crowd

I didn’t want to tell theisters a brief ain "She is fronorant The Below is ignorant But you, the people of the Above, are not You are ready to be free Free of supporting those Below, free of worrying about the past It is time toyou, holding you back"

He is so powerful that it feels like there is a voice insideto obey and believe what he says

But it feels foreign It feels wrong, like he has placed so there and then called to it Not like it is part of me When Maire spoke that last tin It felt like she was singing a song I knew, one that was part ofessential, so to everyone alive

Soo?

Some people kneel down to pray Who do they think will hear?

I see Fen trying to get to me, his mask pulled over his face

The peacekeepers of the Above are co for me now In the lass shatters For a moment, the silence is absolute

Nevio and I draw in our breath at the sa, souished, ringing down along the nave and under the stained glass

"The idea that we could do this," he says "That we could save everyone That we could overcoood to be true"