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"It just seeer and I have superpowerful old chain dangling froers "Let"

I rol ed o I' any chances,"he said For the first ti on his back He slid the sword into it so the hilt rose over his shoulders "Besides,"he added, "I thought you ht"he paused, studying ht?"

"I wil be when people stop asking ht?"

"Yeah,"I replied "And if you did have so to do with it, I wil vaporize you where you stand"

The corner of his mouth quirked "Good to know"

He closed the distance between us, co?"I asked, hoping I didn't sound as breathless as I felt

He lifted his hands, and with surprising gentleness, placed the chain around both our necks Looking down at it, I saw that the links were actual y tiny figures holding hands I'd seen it soels is wearing in theat Hex Hal "

"It is indeed"

Reaching down to take my hands, he explained, "It's also a very powerful protection char to need"

I sed as we laced our fingers and stepped closer to the Itineris "Why?"

"Because we're going a very long way"

I involuntarily squeezed his fingers with h the Itineris, I'd only gone a few hundred miles, and that had ?"I asked

"Graymalkin Island,"he answered And then he yankedheadache and loss of breath, but it didn't raceful We were tossed into a thick copse of trees as we cae exposed root, scraping my elbow on a branch as I went down

Unfortunately, since the necklace was looped around both our necks, that meant Archer fel too On top of ht have been kind of pleasant And yeah, he stil srabbed his shoulders to push hier than his thin fraet to notice those things about hi on was s out of ainst his col arbone, shoving at hiainst a rock or exposed root, but thanks to the necklace, that just pul edhard to get,"he whispered Moonlight glinted in his eyes, and he sounded a little out of breath I told myself it was just from the fal

I thwacked his chest with the palm of my hand, then ducked my head underneath the necklace Once I was free, I scooted away fro at the chain "So else you stole from Hex Hal "

He pushed himself to his feet "Guilty"

"Where the heck was I while you were playing Grand Theft Cel ar?"

"I only took a few things, andthose last feeeks when you weren't talking to ht after the Al Hal ow's Eve BalThanks to the weirdness of that night, Archer and I had spent a lot of cel ar duties avoiding each other No wonder he'd been able to stuff al sorts of s into his pockets

"Is that why you defended et cel ar duty just so you could lift stuff?"

Dusting debris off his shirt, Archer shook his head "Believe it or not, Mercer, I' I stood up to Vandy because I felt like it

Getting to snag stuff out of the cel ar ended up being a bonus"He turned his back onwalk"

"Why can't you just tel rove

"Because I'm not sure you'd believe me Easier to show you"

I'd never been on this part of Graymalkin before, and I was struck by how different it looked frorass underfoot, or majestic oak trees The only plants were scrubby pine trees and unidentifiable bushes, and the ground was a mix of damp sand and rocks Froh, as we cli gently against the shore The ht on the black water

"Where are we? Like, in relation to the school"

"We're on the other side of the island,"Archer replied

"It looks so different"

Archer glanced over his shoulder "That's because there's a spel on the school grounds Jessica Prentiss did it when she built the house

Apparently she was homesick, because she ht down to the landscaping"He paused "Seriously, Mercer, didn't you pay attention in any of our classes?"

"Sorry, I was a little distracted, ith al the people dying"