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As we get away, I once again fight back the feeling that it can reads: YOUR FORTUNE FOR A DOLLAR OR TRADE
Nearly every word is grosslygray, then shifting with shades of brown and pink, the stars rearranging themselves My body moved, detached froined the stars were the pearls and diamonds in Deirdre’s sweater, desperate for the feel of its faet it back now; I’m stuck with this horrific yellow sari that trips me as I walk Gabriel helped me tear off the sash so we could wrap it around Maddie as a makeshift blanket over her coat It has helped so Lilac threw to us before she was caught There were boots and coats that Jared had dropped for us when diverting Mada for Maddie, but I wrapped it around her like a blanket, and her teeth stopped chattering There was also an old children’s book Soggy strawberries bleeding through a folded cloth Stale bread A rusty flask of water A syringe and a glass vial of the oel’s blood The water helped a little, but Gabriel and I were too sick to eat, and Maddie stubbornly refused food as well
No flits along the ground like enchanted dust The field ended hours ago, turning into es that had been picked of their insulation and contents I said that there h everything here had been stolen Gabriel mumbled that they couldn’t be too civilized Maddie slept, her breath jagged
But eventually I turned out to be right, because noe’re standing before a s fro is actually kind It’s barely taller than Gabriel, and made from pieces of scrap metal and boards There’s only one wall--the one with the chiher than the roof--that iswall of a house There are no s, not even the outline of theht he’s carried her without a coht shows dark bags under his eyes, and his irises are not their usual bright blue We had to stop several times because one or the other of us doubled over, sick froue He looks like he’s about to drop, and I doubt I look any better
I’m the one to approach the door, which is a real door, with hinges that have somehow been welded to a piece of metal I’m about to knock, when Gabriel whispers harshly, "Are you crazy? What if they want to murder us?"
"That would be unfortunate," I say, sounding more exasperated than I mean to
He touches my arm like he means for me to step back, but I don’t I spin around to face him "We have no other options We’re exhausted, and sick, and I don’t see any luxury hotels around here Do you?"
Maddie, her cheek against Gabriel’s shoulder, opens her eyes Her pupils are small, and her normally distant stare is eerie in an entirely neay For the first time I can see streaks on her face left by old tears Was she crying all night in her sleep?
As scared as Gabriel and I are, it must be ten times worse for her
"We don’t have another option," I say Gabriel opens his ets a word out
I’ve just realized what it is about Maddie that always leavesso unsettled She reminds me too much of the children born in the lab The s to life for hours or days, or even weeks, but ultiuid eyes just now confirmed it I always ran past the roo frantically in my head until the moment passed
After I knock, the door rattles and then opens a few inches, with a horrible scraping sound Themakes my nostrils flare Gabriel has wrapped his arh burlap of his shirt
The wo on the other side of the door is srih the lenses Her h the three of us are a delivery she was expecting and is now inspecting for daes She looks me over--the torn fabric where my sash was, my muddy hemline, rumpled hair--and says, "You look like a broken empress"
"I’ve been called worse," I say
She s at Maddie, who is latched to Gabriel’s hip like a baby koala
"Your child?" the woman says Then, "No, not yours"
It would not take a fortune-teller to arrive at this conclusion Maddie has her h it is not as dark, and her sh that will explain her presence
"Co Madame’s jewelry around ht behind ht hand, hiding