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Lia it propped open with his foot Zu put a hand on Chubs’s shoulder He ju in surprise at the touch of yellow rubber She had been so silent, I had forgotten she was there, too

"Co a hand on her shoulder "Maybe if we’re lucky, the general will deign to let us take showers And, maybe if we’re really lucky, he’ll actually take one hi an anxious look my way I waved her off with a forced smile and reached in the backseat for my black backpack

I didn’t notice it until I was already outside, the darkening sky sapping away the last bit of the van’s warmth fro door open as I leaned back into the er seat’s back pouch It was the first and only time I had seen it free fro as a booke, and didn’t need to look at the spine to know instantly what book it was Watership Down, by Richard Adaths to hide what he was reading The story of a bunch of rabbits trying to make their way in the world? Liam would have a field day

But I loved that book, and apparently Chubs did, too It was the same old edition my dad used to read to me before bed, the one I used to steal from his study and put on ht How had it come to me just when I needed it thetheir shape untilaloud for everyone and no one to hear "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you But first they er, listener, runner, prince with the sarning Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed"

I wondered if Chubs kne the story ended

TWELVE

THE HOT WATER WAS ENOUGH tomy hair with shampoo that reeked of fake lavender In the entire cos: the sink, the toilet, the towel, the shower, its curtain, and me

I was the last one in By the tih the motel room door, Zu had already been in and out and Chubs had just barricaded hi hi until they stank of stale soap It seemed pointless to me to try to do laundry in a sink with hand soap, but there was no bathtub or laundry detergent for him to use The rest of us just sat back and tuned out his iiene

"You’re next," Lia towhen you’re done"

I caught the towel he threw to "

With the bathroom door shut and locked behind me, I droppedthrough its contents I pulled out the clothes they had givensilky and red spilled out on top of the pile, causing me to jump back in alarure out what it was--the bright red dress fro a tired hand over

I poked at it with a toe, nose wrinkling at its faint scent of stale cigarette se forthat ca where it had been

But, clearly, she had wantedit, loath as I was to ad around in my camp uniform I could do this for Zu; if it made her happy, it’d be worth the discoue had thought to give reen toothbrush, a pack of tissues, some taht in a plastic bag Under that was a small hairbrush and water bottle And there, at the very botto, was another panic button

It must have been there the entire time, and I just hadn’t realized it I’d thrown the first one Cate had given ht that this one had been inall this tihly searched the bag before now?

I picked it up between two fingers and dropped it into the sink like it had been a piece of hot coal My hand was on the faucet, ready to drown the stupid thing in water and fry it for good, but so I stared down at it before I picked it up again and held it toward the light, trying to see if I could peer inside of the black outer shell I looked for a red blinking light that would tellfor any kind whirring or beeping that would tell me if it was activated If it was on, or if it really was a tracker, wouldn’t they have caught up to us by now?

Was it so bad to keep it--just in case? Just in case soain, and I couldn’t help the others? Wouldn’t being with the League be better than being thrown back into Thur better than that?

When I put the panic button back in the pocket of the backpack, it wasn’t for ht only ain I couldn’t even believe inunder the shower’s perfect war to hear the click-click-click-beep of Thurmond’s automatic tiood thing, too, since the dirt seeood fifteenand it felt like I had turned every inch of um pink razor that had been included in the hotel’s s up old and new scabs on ht, and this is the first tis

It was stupid--so stupid I didn’t knohat I was doing, and I didn’t care I was old enough No one was going to stop me