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"Here," he said, holding his hand out to me "I’ll take care of them" My hands treround, and crushed thean But I did, in a way They wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble breakingtabs on ot recaptured or separated from them

Liaht of his touch hadto put as h; his hand dropped between us, but I felt the warmth of his upturned palm brush my shoulder as if it had actually rested there My arled uts I tried to focus on the Psi identification nuain

You are acting like a nervy five-year-old, I told myself Stop it He’s just another kid

"They tell you a lot of lies in the Children’s League, the biggest being that you’re free," he said "They talk about love and respect and fa device on someone and then sends them out to be shot up and bloay"

"But we didn’t have to kill thehtened around the backpack straps "There was another kid inside Martin He didn’t…he didn’t deserve to…"

"You rease and dirt from his hands off on the front of his jeans "The kind of--" He ue motion with his hands, which I think was supposed to indicate Martin’s pluuy?"

I nodded

"The tree didn’t actually hit the door "They uided et Chubs’s attention Somewhere behind me, I heard Zu climb back into Black Betty

"Look," he continued, "they all wear the trackers I’ in a little while to help theo back if you want, or we can take you to the bus station like I said ould"

My hands were still byhi it plain as day on my face "It doesn’t make you a bad person, you know--to want to live your own life"

I looked back and forth between the road and his face, more confused now than ever It didn’t make sense for him to want to helpon him That he wanted to protect

Lia his head toward the empty seat inside But before I could even consider the cost of staying with them, if just for a short while, Chubs’s ar door shut in front of an, "were you with the Children’s League?"

"Hey now," Liam said "This is a don’t-ask-don’t-tell operation Green, you--"

"No," Chubs said, "you decided that You and Suzu to be stuck with her, I want to knoho this person is and e got chased down by gun-toting lunatics trying to get her back"

Liam lifted his hands in surrender

"I…" What could I tell them that wouldn’t sound like a coht; I was alave ht

"I was a runner in the Control Tower," I blurted "I saw the access codes to the coraphic ood with numbers and codes"

That was probably overkill, but apparently I had sold it

"What about your friend? What’s his deal?"