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This ti alone, through an Announcer summoned of her own fierce will But the way out was so easy Almost too easy The veil of blackness si her knees lock with the chill Her ribs stiffened and her eyes teared in the sharp, sudden wind

Where was she?

Luce already regretted her panicked juh time Yes, she needed an escape, and yes, she wanted to trace her past, to save her former selves from all the pain, to understand what kind of love she'd had with Daniel all those other ti told about it To understand--and then fix--whatever curse had been inflicted on Daniel and her

But not like this Frozen, alone, and completely unprepared for wherever, whenever she was

She could see a snowy street in front of her, a steel-gray sky above white buildings She could hear so in the distance But she didn't want to think about what any of it meant

Wait, she whispered to the Announcer

The shadow drifted hazily a foot or so beyond her fingertips She tried to grasp it, but the Announcer eluded her, flicking farther away She leaped for it, and caught a tiny daers-- But then, in an instant, the Announcer shattered into soft black fragone

Great, she muttered Nohat?

In the distance, the narrow road curved left to h with shoveled snohich had been packed against two long banks of white stone buildings They were striking, unlike anything Luce had ever seen, a few stories tall, with their entire fa?ades carved into rows of bright white arches and elaborate coluot the sense that the whole city as streetlamp If there was any ain soed her ar

Luschka!

A woman's voice Hoarse and raspy, like so orders But the voice was tre, too

Luschka, you idiot Where are you?

She sounded closer now Was she talking to Luce? There was soe that Luce couldn't quite put into words

When a figure ca around the snowy street corner, Luce stared at the wo to place her She was very short and a little hunched over,for her body Her hair was tucked under a thick black scarf When she saw Luce, her face scrunched into a corimace

Where have you been?

Luce looked around She was the only other person on the street The old woht here, she heard herself say

In Russian

She clapped a hand over her mouth So that hat had see a language Luce had never learned And yet, not only did Luce understand every word, but she could speak it back

I could kill you, the wo heavily as she rushed toward Luce and threw her ar wo The war into Luce after so ed back hard

Grandma? she whispered, her lips close to the wo that ho the woet off work to find you gone, the wo around in the o to work today? Where is your sister?

There was the ru closer Moving fast Luce shivered and shook her head She didn't know

Aha, the woman said Not so carefree now She squinted at Luce, then pushed her away to get a closer look My God, what are you wearing?

Luce fidgeted as her past life's granders over the buttons of Luce's flannel shirt She grabbed Luce's short, tangled ponytail Sometimes I think you are as crazy as your father, may he rest in peace

I just-- Luce's teeth were chattering I didn't knoas going to be so cold

The woman spat on the snow to show her disapproval She peeled off her overcoat Take this before you catch your death She bundled the coat roughly around Luce, whose fingers were half frozen as she struggled to button it Then her grandmother untied the scarf froreat boom in the sky startled both of them Now Luce kneasn't thunder What is that? she whispered

The old woman stared at her The war, shewith your clothes? Coo

As they waded down the snowy street, over the rough cobbles and the tram tracks set into them, Luce realized that the city wasn't e the road, but occasionally, down the darkened side streets, she heard the whinnies of carriage horses waiting for orders, their frosty breaths clotting the air Silhouetted bodies scampered across rooftops Down an alley, a h the hatched doors of a basement

At the end of the narrow street, the road opened onto a broad, tree-lined avenue with a wide view of the city The only cars parked here were military vehicles They looked old-fashioned, almost absurd, like relics in a warwheels, and the Soviet hammer and sickle painted onto the doors But aside frorand--except for the awful ruhostly, eerily quiet

In the distance, she could see a river, and far across it, a great building Even in the darkness, she could make out its elaborate tiered spires and ornate onion-shaped domes, which seemed familiar and mythic at the same tih Luce