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The kiss Luce had shared with Daniel, too sweet to be so brief, left her just as out of breath as their kisses always did
"Don't go," she whispered, her eyes closed It was all happening too fast She couldn't give Daniel up Not yet She didn't think she ever could
She felt the rush of air that meant he'd already taken oHer heart went after his disappear inside a cloud, into the dark night
Chapter Two
SEVENTEEN DAYS
Thwap
Luce winced and rubbed her face Her nose stung
Thwap Thwap
Noas her cheekbones Her eyelids drifted open and, almost immediately, she scrunched up her face in surprise A stocky dishwater-blond girl with a gri over her Her hair was piled a pants and a ribbed careen- ecked hazel eyes She held a Ping-Pong ball between her ngers, poised to pelt
Luce scrambled backward in her bedsheets and shielded her face Her heart already hurt fro Daniel She didn't need any s, and remeht before
The woman in white who had appeared in Daniel's wake had introduced herself as Francesca, one of the teachers at Shoreline Even in her stunned stupor, Luce could tell that the woman was beautiful She was in herher shoulders, round cheekbones, and large, soft features
Angel, Luce decided almost instantly
Francesca asked no questions on the way to Luce's rooht drop-o , and she must have sensed Luce's utter exhaustion
Now this stranger who'd pelted Luce back into consciousness looked ready to chuck another ball "Good," she said in a gravelly voice "You're awake"
"Who are you?" Luce asked sleepily
"Who are you, isinI'el, Luce sur sense of entitlement
Luce sat up in bed and looked around The rooht-colored hardwood oors; a working replace; a microwave; two deep, wide desks; and built-in bookshelves that doubled as a ladder to what Luce now realized was the top bunk
She could see a private bathroo wooden door And--she had to blink a few times to be certain--an ocean view out theNot bad for a girl who had spent the pastout at a rank old cemetery in a room more appropriate for a hospital than a school But then, at least that rank cemetery and that roo co fro abouta roommate" Luce knew instantly fro Thing to Say
So she took a quick glance at Shelby's d?cor instead Luce had never trusted her own interior design instincts, or e theh to do , but even before that, her room at Dover had been white-walled and bare Sterile chic, as Callie had once said
This roo about it that was strangelygroovy Varieties of potted plants she'd never seen before lined the sill; prayer ags were strung across the ceiling A patchwork quilt inLuce's view of an astrology calendar taped over theto clear out the dean's quarters just because you're Lucinda Price?"
"Um, no?" Luce shook her head "That's not what I meant at all Wait, how did you know reen- ecked eyes seeray pajamas "Lucky me"
Luce was speechless
"Sorry" Shelby exhaled and adjusted her tone, parking herself on the edge of Luce's bed "I'et me to be less harsh when I rst ?" Luce was an only child too, but she wasn't nasty to every stranger she came into contact with
"What I mean is " Shelby shifted unco Can we"--she tossed her head--"rewind?"
"That'd be nice"
"Okay" Shelby took a deep breath "Frankie didn't ht because then she would have had to either notice --or, if she had already noticed, disclose--that I wasn't in bed when you arrived I cah that "--she pointed--"around three"
Out the , Luce could see a wide ledge connecting to an angled portion of the roof She pictured Shelby darting across a whole network of ledges on the roof to get back here in the"See, when it co the teachers are strict about is the pretense of discipline Discipline itself doesn't soto advertise that to the new girl Especially not Lucinda Price"
There it was again That edge in Shelby's voice when she said Luce's name Luce wanted to knohat it meant And where Shelby had been until three And how she'd co over any of those plants And ere the Nephilim kids?