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Too far away

She pressed a nger to her lips, res She felt so cold without him, even in the California sunshine But she was here because of hiels or whatever they were--complete with her bizarre new reputation--all thanks to hiood to be connected to Daniel so inextricably

Until he came for her, it was all she had to hold on to

Chapter Three

SIXTEEN DAYS

"Okay, hitabout Shoreline so far?"

It was Wednesdaybefore class, and Luce was seated at a sunny breakfast table on the terrace, sharing a pot of tea with Miles He earing a vintage yellow T-shirt with a Sunkist logo on it, a baseball cap pulled down just above his blue eyes, ip- ops, and frayed jeans Feeling inspired by the very relaxed dress code at Shoreline, Luce had swapped out her standard black getup She earing a red sundress with a short white cardigan, which felt kind of like the rst day of sunshine after a long stretch of rain

She dropped a spoonful of sugar into her cup and laughed "I don't even knohere to start Maybe my roo and was gone again before I woke up No, wait, it's taking a class taught by a deel couple Or"--she sed--"the way kids here look at ot used to But notorious freak--"

"You are not notorious" Miles took a giant bite of his croissant "I'

As he dabbed the side of his mouth with his napkin, Luce half-marveled, half-chuckled at his occasionally i hiolf club as a boy

"Shelby's rough around the edges," Miles said, "but she can be cool, too When she feels like it Not like I've ever witnessed that side of her" He laughed "But that's the ru weirded me out at rst, too, but so act For soives students here the ain Develop She remembered that Daniel had used it when he rst told her he wouldn't be joining her at Shoreline But develop into what? It could only apply to the kids ere Nephilim Not Luce, as the lone full huel felt like swooping back in to save her

"Luce," Miles said, interrupting her thoughts "The reason people stare at you is because everyone's heard about you and Daniel, but no one knows the real story"

"So instead of just asking me--"

"What? Whether you two really do it on the clouds? Or whether his ralory' ever overwhel the horri ed look on Luce's face, then gulped "Sorry Imyth Everyone else, that is I try not to, um, speculate" Miles put down his tea and stared at his napkin "Maybe it feels too personal to ask about"

Miles shifted his gaze and was now staring at her, but it didn't htly lopsided smile felt like an open door, an invitation to talk about sos she hadn't been able to tell anyone yet As much as it sucked, Luce understood why Daniel and Mr Cole had forbidden her to reach out to Callie or her parents But Daniel and Mr Cole were the ones who had enrolled her at Shoreline They were the ones who'd said she'd be okay here So she couldn't see any reason to keep her story a secret from someone like Miles Especially since he already knew so story," she said "Literally And I still don't know all of it But basically, Daniel is an i deal before the Fall" She sed, not wanting to meet Miles's eyes She felt nervous "At least, he was until he fell in love withfrom her rst day at Sword & Cross, to how Arriane and Gabbe took care of her, to how Molly and Caraph of herself in a former life Penn's death and how it devastated her The surreal battle in the cemetery Luce left out soetherbut by the tiiven Miles a pretty complete picture of what had happened--and hopefully dispelled the ue for at least one person

At the end, she felt lighter "Wow I've never actually told this stu to anyone Feels really good to say it aloud Like it's more real now that I've ad if you want to," he said