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"In here," he said, and I snorted

"I aed "Suit yourself" He stepped inside and shut the door behind hi to decide what to do I heard a rustle and a soft scraping sound on the other side, and with a huff, I yanked open the door

He wasn’t there I squinted in the darkness, pushing the jackets aside, but all that was behind them all

"Up here"

I ju with a flashlight in hand The opening was too big to be the air vent I’d discovered the day before, and Knox dropped down a rope ladder

"How did you find this?" I said as I hauled myself up

He reached down to help me, but I pushed his hands away

"Someone else showed et us out of So It was an entire ay, high enough fora few feet away "Are the other roo the hole hat looked like a piece of ceiling "C’mon, and keep quiet

If someone’s on the other side of the walls, they could hear us"

The layer of dust on everything made ht led the way, and we headed down a rickety staircase that creaked underneath my feet It wasn’t until we reached a heavy wooden door several levels below the baseoes on for about a round, and when it ends, we’ll be on the other side of the wall

Think you can ave hiht from him As I marched into the tunnel, which was dark and dank and smelled of earth, he chuckled

There were no turns, so I didn’t have to ask Knox for directions Except for the shuffle of our footsteps, it was eerily silent, and I could hear hi behind lanced overto do?" I said "Hang around a club for hours and drink ourselves stupid?"

"So like that Don’t you want to be surprised?"

"I hate surprises"

He s in silence for a fewfriends," I said "Shouldn’t I at least know their names?"

"Lila didn’t"

"But they were her friends"

"When you’re as famous and powerful as Lila was, you have lots of friends," he said "Don’t worry about it Lila hated them as much as you will"

I didn’t ask If all ell, I wouldn’t have to spend more than a few minutes with them before I had the chance to slip away

When we reached the other end of the tunnel, Knox took the flashlight back and led me up another old stair- case This tih it looked rusted, the hinges must have been well oiled, because it didn’t squeak when he opened it

As soon as I stepped through the doorway, I understood why We were in an alleyway somewhere beyond the walls of Sohtly lit street Knox pulled the door shut behind hiht was gone

"Just act natural," he said, leading me to the street

Despite the late hour, there were people everywhere, laughing and chatting as they leaned against theays When Knox and I stepped on, heads turned our way, and Knox’s grip on htened

The ayThere was a rail to hold on to, but Knox was sturdy, and I’d seen pictures of hiether They were always aro of hiled away With any luck, he wouldn’t be as strict about it in the club

Above us, screens lit up with the same kind of news scrolls that appeared at the bottom of the television The s loudly adver-tised different products for things that as a III I could never afford and as Lila I would never need, and I attempted to look as bored as possible Lila had probably been down this street hundreds of tinificentdisplays showing off the latest in fashion or electronics, and others that belonged to the intimate cafés where only the rich could eat They were the sa full well I would never be ranked high enough to get in Now that I was Lila, every door was open tore, the only reminder that this wasn’t paradise From the way it still ss that had been boe barriers blocked the ay beside it, and at least a dozen Shields lined the perih hts were always on the lookout for someone to arrest or kill, and we avoided theht on by as if they weren’t even there Was that what being a V and VIcenter," said Knox, so close his breath tickled my skin "The other two places were --my father’s," he said

"And the Ministry of Wealth and Distribution Neither of them were destroyed, but the bombs took out a nice chunk"

"Did it make any difference?" I said, and Knox shook his head