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Alone in the woods with the shadow
After yesterday's in-class de more of the same from Francesca and Steven She had hoped that maybe the students would have a chance to experiment with the shadows on their own today She'd even had the briefest fantasy of being able to do what she'd done in the forest in front of all the Nephilim
None of that had happened In fact, class today had felt like a big step back A boring lecture about Announcer etiquette and safety, and why the students should never, under any circumstances, try on their ohat they'd seen the day before
It was frustrating and regressive So now, instead of heading back to the dor behind the e of the blu , and up the wooden stairs of the Nephilie Francesca's o ce was in the annex on the second oor, and she'd told the class to feel free to co was remarkably di erent without the other students to war Every noise Lucewooden bea one oor up and s co ee She didn't know yet whether she was going to tell Francesca what she'd been able to do in the forest It ni cant to soht seem like a violation of her instructions to the class today
Part of Luce just wanted to feel her teacher out, to see whether she ht be someone Luce could turn to when, on days like today, she started to feel as if she ht fall apart
She reached the top of the stairs and found herself at the head of a long, open hallway On her left, beyond the wooden banister, she looked down at the dark, eht was a row of heavy wooden doors with stained-glass transo the oorboards, Luce realized she didn't knohich o ce was Francesca's Only one of the doors was ajar, the third one frolass scene in the transoht she heard a male voice inside She was poised to knock when a woman's sharp tone made her freeze
"It was a mistake to even try," Francesca practically hissed
"We took a chance We got unlucky" "We took a chance We got unlucky"
Steven
"Unlucky?" Francesca sco ed "You mean reckless From a purely statistical standpoint, the odds of an Announcer bearing bad neere far too great You sahat it did to those kids They weren't ready"
A pause Luce inched a little closer along the Persian rug in the hall
"But she was"
"I won't sacri ce all the progress an entire class has hted, Francesca We came up with a beautiful curriculum I know that as well as you Our students outperforraht to feel a sense of pride But things are di erent now"
"Steven's right, Francesca" A third voice Male Luce thought it sounded faht as well throw your academic calendar out theThe truce between our sides is the only tihed "You really think--"
The unknown voice said, "If I know Daniel, he'll be right on ti down theelse," Steven said
A pause, then what sounded like a drawer sliding open, then a gasp Luce would have killed to be on the other side of the wall, to see what they could see
"Where did you get that?" the other ?"
"Of course he's not!" Francesca sounded stung "Steven found it in the forest during one of his rounds the other night"
"It's authentic, isn't it?" Steven asked
A sigh "Been too long for ed "I haven't seen a starshot in ages Daniel will know I'll take it to hiest we do in the meanti" The familiarity of that male voice was like an itch at the back of Luce's brain "And it's really not my style--"
"Please," Francesca pleaded
The o ce was silent Luce's heart was pounding
"Okay If I were you? Step things up around here Tighten their supervision and do everything you can to get all of them ready End Times aren't supposed to be very pretty"
End Times That hat Arriane had said would happen if Caht at Sword & Cross But they hadn't won Unless there'd already been another battle But then, ould the Nephiliet ready for?
The sound of heavy chair legs scraping along the oor ht eavesdropping on this conversation Whatever it was about
For once, she was glad of the endless supply of mysterious alcoves in the Shoreline architecture She ducked under a decorative wood-shingled cornice between two bookshelves and pressed herself into the recess of the wall
A single set of footsteps exited the o ce, and the door closed rure to descend the stairs
At rst, she could see only his feet Brown European leather boots Then a pair of dark-wash jeans came into view as he curved around the banister toward the second story of the lodge A blue-and-white-striped button-down shirt And nally, the distinctly recognizable old dreadlocks
Roland Sparks had turned up at Shoreline
Luce juht still be on nervous best behavior in front of Francesca and Steven, ere dauntingly gorgeous and powerful and matureand her teachers But Roland didn't intimidate her--not much, anyway--not anymore Besides, he was the closest to Daniel she had been in days
She slunk down the interior steps as silently as she could, then burst through the lodge door to the deck Roland wastoward the ocean like he didn't have a care in the world