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Even here, in the middle of the sith no hope, his voice carries a certainty he can’t possibly feel, a fire that starts to banish the icy dread in my heart This is the salad he’s on et…" I start, but the words die in my throat Over Flynn’s shoulder, out in the darkness of the swaht

It’s so faint at first that I al tricks on hts on a reen-white to be the laely of the phosphorescent algae in the rebel caves, as though it took wing and followed us out into the swa froe, no event, only the certainty that I’ve seen this before The natives call the else

Flynn seesas he sees it too He steps back, body tense with fear I know I ought to react, ought to tense as well, let reenish light holds otten

Flynn’s talking, shouting in un, the one taken from the unconscious soldier at the spaceport, and aiasp the word, shaking myself free of my memory’s spell "Flynn--stop I’ve seen this before"

"Avon’s wisps?" His voice is short, tense The gun doesn’t waver; he may not be prone to violence, but he handles the weapon with confidence, with ease

"No" I reach out, laying my hand on his arm "Not here on Avon I’ve seen this on Verona"

Flynn’s eyes finally snap to ently in the air "There isps on Verona?"

"In Noveotten thehost…"

But the wisp is answeringpath through the night as though dancing with ether

"It could…create things," I murmur "Paint pictures in my mind"

"Lilac told us the creatures--the whispers--can lances froh he keeps both hands firht theether fragination I take a step forward and the wisp leaps up, darting away, then pausing--then darting again "It wants us to follow it," I gasp But before I canonce, then vanishing "Maybe Lilac was right,to help"

"Unless LaRoux knoe know If Avon’s wisps have been Lilac’s whispers all along…this could be a trap" Flynn slowly tucks his gun back into his waistband, and when he speaks again, his voice is shaky "I’ve caught glimpses of the wisps, but I’ve never seen one so…My cousin Sean said he saw one once, that it tried to lead hih the swamp, to the east"

"To the east?" My skin prickles; to the east lies the spot where Flynn’s vanished facility stood Co in my ears We find them out there sometimes Soldiers taken by the Fury Drowned or buried in quicksand or dead with guns in their hands and bullets in their brains They go east, into no-man’s-land, if there’s no one nearby to kill when they snap They’re looking for it They’re looking for the place

My eyes are still searching the horizon, afteri I see the wisp, only to blink and find darkness "Flynn," I say slowly "You ht"

"Well, if these whispers can s that aren’t there, what’s to say they can’t keep you fros that really are there?" I turn away from the black swamp "Flynn, alked around that island We never walked across it So kept us to its peri" Flynn’s eyes lift, fixing onhidden by the whispers" For the first time in what feels like centuries, I see a flicker of hope there It’s like surfacing after a long dive and tasting oxygen again "Forget the hideout--that’s where we need to go"

Before I can reply, a distant shouthard

There are voices out there in the fog--too far away to be clear, but there’s an unency in them Whoever’s out in the swamp, whetherour way

I hit the button to retract the gangway and follow Flynn down so we can juhts cut off as the door closes, leaving us in utter blackness Flynn grabs for the oars stashed along each side of the runabout They won’t work as well as the rebels’ clever poles, but they’ll get us ine

Flynn settles in to row, leaving me free to cover our retreat if necessary I touch his shoulder to get his attention, since he can’t see my face "The shuttle’s pointed north, and we’re about half an hour west of the island Can you find it again in the dark?"