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She concentrated on finding theht before The choral voices and the sugared apples The tattoos were easy; she’d noticed the just below the surface of his skin the moment she’d looked at him There were others too, the ones she hadn’t been sure about the night before, that were somehow easier to pinpoint now that she wasn’t surrounded by police officers and other criminals who muddied the waters

She smelled autumn leaves, still crisp and earthy as if they’d been raked into afor a child to bound into the far less pleasant It was the cloying stench of rotting flesh She’d sirl of her age Even though it was less intense than the scent of leaves, it washer want to recoil She had to re Nua’s decaying family It was simply an imprint

Sara came to stand beside Violet while Rafe re as far from them as he could "His twenty-four-hour hold is alh to arrest hie ht be able to tell us how many people he’s killed Maybe who he’s killed If we knohat to look for weit"

Violet’s heart sank She thought Sara understoodthat she realized Violet’s ability didn’t work like that "I can," Violet said at last, a solution co to her "If you takeup?" Sara asked Violet as she handed each of them a bottle of water

Violet unscrewed the cap and took a long s, trying to shake off the sli to her, that sensation of James Nua’s imprints that seemed to permeate her skin She felt like she needed a shower

"I’ulp "Really," she pro her

Sara slipped off her jacket and draped it over her ared a look that Violet realized she wasn’t meant to decipher, and Violet was suddenly aware that they seemed to understand each other a little too easily She wondered how long they’d been working together to for "It eird enough But you don’t need to worry about me" His brows lifted "Really, Sara, I’ at hiether, as if she didn’t quite believe hi "Here" Rafe palmed it so quickly that Violet didn’t see what it was, only that it was small A coin? Maybe a piece of jewelry? He tucked it into his pocket Another secret between the two of theain "What about you? I know you can’t be specific, but I also know you sensed solanced at Rafe before answering "He’s definitely killed before Several tiet in to see the bodies of his fa his victi her next words carefully "I think soyeah The only way I can tell who he’s killed is bythe i sure that Sara understood what she was trying to tell her She didn’t look Rafe’s way She didn’t want to know if he understood

Sara gazed over Violet’s shoulder, thinking, and then she nodded "Well, let me ue"

Even though her stooing to learn to help--really help--she’d have to do things like that

Things like going to thein the hallhile she ht away

When she was out of sight, Violet turned to Rafe "What happened back there? You seemed sort ofI don’t know, freaked out Are you okay?" She knehy Sara hadn’t believed him when he’d said he was fine; his face was still ashen

Rafe just shrugged, and even though she wanted to, Violet didn’t press him Rafe didn’t like to be pushed, and she didn’t entirely blame him If he wanted to talk, he’d tell her

That hen the door to the other room, the one Jaed as she ju

James Nua was still in there

And she was out here

Rafe reacted before she did, and she felt her heart slaainst the walls of her chest as his hand closed around hers, pulling her roughly behind hi escorted out, and he’d already seen her

He carried himself as if it were a normal affair for hi with handcuffs and arnition flicker in his eyes, his step barely faltered

Barely

And then a knowing grin parted his lips while the black ink coiled and curled and crawled along his skin "Hey, White River" His voice sent a spiderweb of fear shooting fro tenuous threads that s quiver Its sticky webs reached into every crevice of her being Sonized her, but he’d just mentioned the name of her school