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The instant Ispeed and force I had enough ti breath before the heaves ca more I must not have eaten for some time

My stoardless ofand head pounding and ears ringing, until at last I ed to draw in a quick half breath That helped The heaving slowed; I breathed h only for the , ready to resuht

Finally able to think, I lifted ure out where I was and what had happened The ringing in --was loud and incessant, h thisYes I had leapt from aof the House of the Risen Sun, deterht ht my breath Shiny

Beneath me

I scraht arm, I screaht through the pain and the retching, dragging myself off him with my left arhts had inserted to drawco of rinding hell ofbut lie where I hi and helpless with h for ht position, I tried again to assess ht arm would not work at all I reached out withI brushed his eyes, which were open They blinked, the lashes ticklingto ain

That hen I realizedwet Confused, I felt the ground Brick cobbles, greasy and thick with dirt Cold darearods

He was alive His h to soften our fall Enough that when he had turned us in the air, orienting so that he would hit the ground first, we had both survived But if I was this injured…

My fingers found the back of his head, and I gasped, jerking ods

Where the hells e? How long had we been lying here? Did I dare call for help? I looked around, listened The air felt cool and ht Fat drops of water touched entleness that was rain in Shadow I could hear it, a light drizzle all around us, but in the ireat deal, though--garbage and fer metal Another alley? No, the space around us felt more open Wherever ere, it was isolated; if anyone had seen us land, sheer curiosity should’ve brought theularly I put my hand on his bare chest--he had removed his shirt in the House--and almost drew it back, repelled by the unnatural flatness of his torso Yet his heart still beat steadily, in contrast to the bubbling, jerky breaths that he was struggling to draw in At this rate, his natural deathtiht have been queasiness, too I kneas foolish It wasn’t as though he would stay dead, and when he returned to life, he would be whole It was, as Lil had concluded, the easiest way to "heal" him It wouldn’t even be the first ti to kill in the heat of anger Doing it in cold-blooded calculation was a whole other ht arh thankfully it seeht’ve survived the fall better than him, but that didn’tarms to break his neck

All at once it hit me: I was lost in soood as dead It was only aThey knew Shiny, at least, would come back to life I was sick, injured, weak Terrified And, da so hard with you?" I de away tears of frustration "Hurry up and die!"