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"They’re already looking for you, you know"

Four

ALUMP ROSE IN MY THROAT, AND I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF the blade-wielding maniac I bit the inside ofwar for ether, "they already tried to kill et that close a second tiether "The Novem doesn’t want to kill you"

Crank caainst the wall, sitting on it and swinging her feet "He’s right, you know"

I shook"Hoould you know?"

"’Cause Sebastian’sthat happens in New 2 It’s his job to know" I cocked an eyebrow at hiree, but he stayed silent "Bas works for the Nove" Crank twisted her cabbie hat backward "So who’s really after you, Ari? Does it have anything to do with that bloody sword in your backpack?"

I let my eyelids close slowly and then counted to five I had killed a s And now the Noveht," no et into this mess? No, this wasn’t my mess, this was my mother’s And I wasn’t so sure I wanted to know the truth anymore I pulled et me He’d be mad as hell, but he’d come

"Cell phones don’t work in New 2," Henri said fronal "Fine Is there a phone or a pay phone soe e He was so odd-looking that he distracted ht brown skin Green eyes And a short dark blond Afro Even his eyebroere blond

"Unless you gotbut running water, electricity, and mail runners," Henri said "Welcome to New 2"

"Ari was born at Charity Hospital She wants to find her records You can help with that, can’t you, Bas?" Crank asked her brother

Sebastian picked his backpack up, avoiding o back home" He walked up the stairs

Crank sputtered, and no one else said a word The only sound was Sebastian’s unhurried footsteps on the stairs I glanced froroan, not believing I was about to run after Mr War up to Sebastian on the landing "Hey, hold on a sec" He stopped, turning partway "Look, if you know sowhy these people are after ht, I wasn’t that much shorter than Sebastian, but I felt s away He tossed a quick glance to the others, who had gathered halfway up the stairs His jaw clenched and his eyes went hard He bent forward and kept his voice low "The Noveo with your description and namethe ent out to all the runners and people ork for the Novem-- which is basically everyone in this city--to look for you"

Dr Giroux He must’ve called But why? "And you work for the about hurting you, so I don’t know shit about that whole sword thing Crank is talking about And yeah, I work for them Doesn’t mean I always listen"

He marched down the hall and disappeared into a room at the end

A wave of exhaustion settled over me My shoulders slumped I could feel the others’ eyes onI just wanted to be left alone so I could regroup and think straight, to digest everything that had happened so far My hasty decision or desire--whatever you wanted to call it--to bolt wouldn’t do ood It was dark I needed a place to stay I’d already paid And, I sighed, I guessed this was it

I went back into the bedroo in front of the fireplace But the shuffle of footsteps in the hallprivacy anytiirl--as noearing the gold Mardi Grasa circle The boy leaned toward the fireplace and snapped his fingers over the wood It burst into fla the deal Just a trick," he said attrick It was easier to believe that than the alternative "Stuff about my mother"

A drum echoed from somewhere down the hall Then another and another, until a rhythm took hold The walls and the floor vibrated The te intoin time

"That’s Sebastian," Crank said "He plays when he’s in a mood"

I didn’t have to ask what that round, very faintly, I heardin ti you could dance to, or lie down on the floor, close your eyes, and weep to

As the flarew, shadows danced on the walls and over the skull, which see I didn’t Firelight glinted off the colorful beads and the black satin of the top hat It needs a na which was creepier, the skull or the little girl who stared at old mask with those lu to the boy "And this is Violet She doesn’t talk e in both hands, occasionally bringing it up to her tiny nose to smell it, but her round eyes were fixed on e Mardi Gras Goth doll And for so to the odd little kid She couldn’t have been more than ten years old