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This whole situation was so hard to wrap o, ly nor more than to sneak behind the bleachers so I could make out withwas a lie--just suise the fact that I’d beenfor five entire years The truth was, that normal life of mine had vanished the instant I’d climbed out of my dad’s car in the middle of Chuckanut Drive and had been carried away on a flash of light

It was the stuff bad sci-fi waschunk of tily-crazy but true

And I’d seen it happen again with ht Si, because it was his very last chance in the world, that whoever they ould take him the way they had me

And they had

The fireflies had come, the way Jett had told ht Except he’din the night sky to let us knoe’d found the right place

Instead, those fireflies had engulfed us, nearly choking , it was ent Truman too

"I don’t wanna hear it wasn’t him," I countered before Simon even had the chance to start in on ulance when Siht next to hed and sagged forward, balancing his elbows on his knees His broad shoulder brushed against mine, and it was impossible not to notice the way he restrained himself for my benefit, like he wanted to tellfro too stubborn to ads, he scrubbed his hand over his dark, closely sheared hair and said, "Maybe you’re right Maybe it was your dad But I’m not here to talk about that If it was him, he’ll have to wait At least for noant to talk about the other ain "If it really o there, to the Tacoma facility I think we should find out if it’s really Tyler they’re holding" He faced ht you said that’s the kind of place the Returned should avoid" My voice was pinched and tight, but s--filled fully for the first ti those crappy old windbags vibrate like cruh But if it’s i over his lips as he shrugged "I just need to think Come up with a plan"

"You’d really do that for Tyler?" I bit my lip and lifted my eyes to his "For me?"

"I know you don’t believe this, but I want you to be happy, Kyra"

Regret over the way I’d behaved prickedinto his arrinned, because to borrow one of ift horse in theTyler back, what are you hoping to gain, exactly? I know you, Si there, or you wouldn’t risk it"

I expected hi me into his fold, or about teaainst them--the Returned versus the No-Suchers Instead, he answered candidly, "If we’re lucky, we’re hoping we can scrounge up soet our hands on so in there Mostly, I wanna know ure out the chinks in their armor"

"What if they don’t have any?" I asked

Simon’s smile turned up full blast "Everyone has ’em"

In the end, it didn’t matter to et my hopes up, but it was alht not have been from Tyler, but I’d already committed every word of the classified email to ton State Patrol reported an unidentified es of 16 and 20 years old at a rest stop just south of Oly no identification and refused to reveal his na held at the Tacoma facility for my inspection"

But it wasn’t the content of the eent Truht at Devil’s Hole and then had disappeared himself--that had me convinced: the boy in question had to be Tyler

We’d all been looking at that ee had popped up, and to say that I’d hoped it was Tyler the NSA ein to describe what I felt

Because here’s the thing: if I could drea was one of those things only afforded to those who could sleep And since I no longer neededwas pretty y, or phone booths, or floppy disks