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It’s probably a bad idea to listen to the thoughts of someone who loves you Love ressions and lapses of logic than usual Of course, the average in with, continually interrupting itself with observations and expressions of physical need and desire; vampires, by contrast, tend to think in cooler, habout himself, as most mortals do ry, and consistently amorous He had a desire to devourenough to learn he was planning a ro for us in Savannah; then I felt uneasy about eavesdropping My , but how could I resist?

I resisted I didn’t want love to turn out to be a s

I turned to look out the busWe were passing the rough stone streets that led down to River Street, the place where I’d turned invisible for the first ti and shoes that bend light rays, and I’d taughtthe heat of ht The process had been physically tiring, but the experience entirely justified the expense of energy--being invisible was the h crowded streets as if you’re flying, weightless, and free--could anything be better than that?

And yes, I’d packed my special trouser suit, underwear, and shoes for the field trip After all, they were theclothes I owned

The conference hotel overlooked the h arched ceiling an checked us in and announced the roo with Bernadette and a girl called Rhonda

Bernadette ian and talked to her in a low voice

"No substitutions?" Hogan said

We all crowded into an elevator, and Walker, Richard, and four other boys got off on the third floor Walker blew me a kiss as he left

Bernadette sighed--a sigh of frustration and anger, not sadness Her thoughts were scattered, but I detected enors about me Autumn’s murder had been Bernadette’s first experience of death, and she hadn’t yet coe

In our room, Rhonda talked nonstop while I unpacked, and Bernadette lay on a bed "You can have the sofa bed," she said to me

"Let’s flip coins" I pulled three diot tails while Rhonda and I got heads I alave her one more reason to resent me

The keynote speaker for the caucus was Neil Caia who had quit the Denored the podiue to address us Walker and I sat in the third row From the moment he appeared, we couldn’t take our eyes off hi? Every woh he wasn’t conventionally handsoht have been broken once, and he was probably five-foot-ten at most But his dark blue eyes ar eyes," but I’d never seen theht His eyes h to create the impression that he was fascinated by each one His hair was thick and dark, his hands square and strong looking As he spoke, his hands did a kind of dance of their own

"Two days from nohen you leave Savannah, more than fifty species will have become extinct," he said "Think of it--fifty species never to be seen again The major causes? Habitat destruction, exploitation, and land development--all actions taken by humans"

He paused and rested his hands on his hips "We say, it’s ti and deep, es

Now he leaned forward, and his hands began to ain as his eyes swept the crowd "By the tiht million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will have entered the earth’s atmosphere Each and every year, thirty billion tons of CO2 eenerated by hus"

Again, he placed his hands on his hips "We say, it’s tie and back again, spouting statistics about global war and coral reef destruction, about deforestation and fertilizer runoff, punctuating the statistics with the sa it along with him: "We say, it’s time for them to stop"

I’d heard the word charisift" But the word didn’t begin to describe the chare, I thought of a line frolittered when he walked" This netic sparkle to him that I couldn’t explain, and didn’t even try to at the ti, Cameron held out both his hands, palms up "But who are we?" he said "Who are we, and who is theroups: insiders and outsiders And I,with every one of you, we’re on the outside We’re fundamentally different fros, and we live different lives They are highly protected We are not They have built a system of laws and customs that protects them We live in athe earth We are here to save it We are here tonight"--he spread his ar our home"

The crowd broke into a kind of roar The sound was electric, pulling us out of our chairs to clap and whistle and wave our ar, and in front of us, Professor Hogan h-pitched hoot of approval Next to her, a woave her a derisive look, but didn’t stop clapping

Cae beneath a spotlight, watching us, see to drink in our approval Was I the only one to notice that he cast no shadow?

When the noise died, Caain Walker looked atthe aisles, handing out sheets of paper and envelopes for donations The papers were loyalty oaths: statee not to vote for Dened my form and passed it back Later,he’d said was news, really But that night, buoyed by thehe said, no one hesitated

Ca hi roo for a chance to speak to him Walker and I waited, too