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"Stepping through" Miles knelt down on the ground and brushed the fragether in his pal theers until they forht I sort of broke into Steven's o ce through the transoht" Shelby balked "You unked levitation You're de nitely not good enough to oat in through the transo the bookcase over," Miles said "But I a up a thick black tome titled An Announcer How-To: Summon, Glimpse, and Travel in Ten Thousand Easy Steps "I also have an enorh the transo a hard ti, with your obvious talent for glie--"

Shelby snorted "What'd you read, point three percent of the book?"

"A very useful point three percent," Miles said "I think we ht be able to do this And not end up lost forever"

Shelby cocked her head suspiciously but didn't say anything else Miles kept kneading the Announcer in his pal it out After a ray ales obbly and it was almost translucent, but when he pressed it away from his body a little, it see set to dry Miles reached for the left side of the dark rectangle, feeling around its surface, searching for so the Announcer with his ngers "The book says if you h, the surface tension reduces by a ratio that allows for penetration" He sighed "There's supposed to be a--"

"Great book, Miles" Shelby rolled her eyes "You're a real expert now"

"What are you looking for?" Luce asked, stepping close behind Miles Suddenly, watching his hands rove, she saw it

A latch

She blinked and the ie vanished, but she knehere it had been She reached around Miles and pressed her own hand against the left side She blinked and the ie vanished, but she knehere it had been She reached around Miles and pressed her own hand against the left side of the Announcer There The touch of it against her ngers asp

It felt like the kind of heavy ate It was freezing, and rough with invisible rust

"Nohat?" Shelby said

She looked back at her two very ba ed friends, shrugged, ddled with the lock, then slowly slid the invisible bolt to the side

With its lock released, a shadow door swung up, al the three of them backward

"We did it," Shelby whispered

They were gazing into a long, deep, red-black tunnel It was clammy inside and smelled like mildew and watered-down cocktails made with cheap liquor Luce and Shelby looked at each other uncertainly Where was the blackjack table? Where was the wolow pulsed fro, coins clinking into pay baskets with a clatter

"Cool!" Miles said, grabbing for her hand "I read about this part, it's a transitional phase We just have to keep going"

Luce reached for Shelby's hand, gripping it tightly as Miles stepped inside the clah

They walked only a couple of feet forward, about far enough to reach the real door of Luce and Shelby's dorray Announcer door sealed shut behind theone What had been a deep, glowing velvety red in the distance suddenly beca the their ears with sound All three of the Luce and Shelby behind hiht have been paralyzed Both her pal to a single chord of music, loud and perfectly sonorous

Luce rubbed her eyes, but it was the foggy curtain of Announcer that was obscuring the view Miles reached forward and gently rubbed at it with a circular motion, until it started to peel away, like old paint chips aking o a ceiling And froh theLuce's skin As the Announcer fell to pieces at their feet, the view before theas Strip Luce had only seen it in pictures, but now she had the tip of the Paris Las Vegas Hotel's Ei el Tower at eye level in the distance

Which lance down: They were standing outside, on a roof soe only a foot or two beyond their toes And beyond that--the rush of Vegas tra c, the heads of a line of pal pool All at least thirty stories down

Shelby let go of Luce's hand and began pacing the boundaries of the brown ces extended fro in three hundred and sixty degrees of bright neon lights, and beyond the Strip, a range of far-o barren ht pollution

"Dahts to exploreI aht now Al his hands in his pockets "Umthanks?"

"Where exactly are we?" Luce asked The di erence between her solo tuht and day This was so much more civilized It hadn't made anyone want to throw up Plus, it had actually worked At least, she thought it had "What happened to the viee had before?"