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I'd forgotten, he whispered, confusing Luce even more Fro back in his bed as if she had some sort of disease How is that even possible? There were no loopholes in the curse You shouldn't be able to be here

Loopholes? Luce asked What kind of loopholes? I need to know--

I can't help you, he said, and coughed You have to learn on your own Those are the rules

Doria A wo in the doorway She was older, blond and severe, with a starched Red Cross cap pinned so that it sat at an angle on her head At first, Luce didn't realize that the wo her You are Doria, aren't you? The new transfer?

Yes, Luce said

We'll need to do your paperwork this , the woman said curtly I don't have any of your records But first, you'll do me a favor

Luce nodded She could tell she was in trouble, but she had s to worry about than this wo into surgery, the nurse said

Okay Luce tried to focus on the nurse, but all she wanted was to go back to her conversation with Daniel She had finally been getting so another piece in the puzzle of her lives!

Private Giovanni Bruno? He's requested that the on-duty nurse be taken off his surgery He says he's sweet on the nurse who saved his life His angel? The woirls tell me that's you

No, Luce said I'm not--

Doesn't matter It's what he believes The nurse pointed toward the door Let's go

Luce rose fro away frohed I have to talk to you, she whispered, though he didn't ery wasn't as awful as it could have been All Luce had to do was hold Giovanni's ss, pass a few instruments to the doctor and try not to look when he reached into the dark red ut and extracted the bits of blood-sheathed shrapnel If the doctor wondered about her evident lack of experience, he didn't say anything She wasn't gone h to come back to Daniel's bed and find it e the sheets She rushed toward Luce, and Luce thought she was going to hug her Instead she collapsed at her feet

What happened? Luce asked Where did he go?

I don't know The girl began to weep He left He just left I don't knohere She looked up at Luce, tears filling her hazel eyes He said to tell you goodbye

He can't be gone, Luce said under her breath They hadn't even had a chance to talk--

Of course they hadn't Daniel had known exactly what he was doing when he left He didn't want to tell her the whole truth He was hiding so What were the rules he'd mentioned? And what loophole?

Lucia's face was flushed Her speech was broken up by hiccups I know I shouldn't be crying, but I can't explain it I feel like so They had that in coirls were inconsolable Luce balled up her fists, feeling angry and despondent Don't be childish

Luce blinked, thinking at first that the girl was speaking to her, but then she realized Lucia was chiding herself Luce straightened, holding her tre to recover the calm poise the nurses had shown

Lucia Luce reached for the girl, irl inched away, turning from Luce to face Daniel's e the sheets The only thing we can control is the e do Nurse Fiero always says that The rest is out of our hands

No Lucia rong, but Luce couldn't see how to correct her Luce didn't understand much, but she understood that--her life didn't have to be out of her hands She could shape her own destiny Soured out yet, but she could feel a solution drawing nearer How else would she have found herself here in the first place? How else would she have kno that it was tiht, a shadow stretched out from the supply closet in the corner It looked like one she could use, but she wasn't entirely confident of her abilities to summon She focused on it for a moment and waited to see the place where it wobbled

There She watched it twitch Fighting the disgust she still felt, she grabbed hold of it

Across the roo hard not to show that she was still crying

Luce worked fast, drawing the Announcer into a sphere, then working it out with her fingers more quickly than she ever had before

She held her breath, made a wish, and disappeared

Chapter Four

TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS

MILAN, ITALY MAY 25, 1918

Daniel felt guarded and on edge as he pushed out of the Announcer

He was unpracticed at how to quicklyexactly where he was or what he should do Knowing that at least one version of Luce was bound to be nearby, bound to need him

The room hite White sheets on the bed in front of hiht white sunshine beating through the pane For a moment, all was quiet Then the chatter of memories rushed in

Milan

He was back in the hospital where she had been his nurse during the first of the mortal world wars There, in the bed in the corner, was Traverti, his roommate from Salerno who'd stepped on a land s had been burned and broken, but he was so char him bottles of whiskey He'd always had a joke for Daniel And there, on the other side of the room, was Max Porter, the Brit with the burned face, who never made a peep until he screae off