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I wantto be with Daniel, she said slowly There was more, but she wasn't sure how to explain it

Huh! Bill looked even more dubious than his heavy brow, stone lips, and hooked nose uht there beside you when you skipped out of your own time Was he not?

Luce slid down the wall and sat, feeling another strong rush of regret I had to leave He wouldn't tell o find out for ue with herme you're on a quest

Luce felt a faint smile cross her lips A quest She liked the sound of that So you do want soht to know is that the Announcers are su on in here He thuainst his chest They're kind of like little sharks, drawn by your deepest desires

Right Luce reh the specific Announcers had chosen her and not the other way around

So when you step through, the Announcers that see you to pick thes to be

So the girl I was in Moscow, and in Milan--and all the other lives I glih--I wanted to visit them?

Precisely, Bill said You just didn't know it The Announcers knew it for you You'll get better at this, too Soon you should begin to feel yourself sharing their knowledge As strange as it may feel, they're a part of you

Each one of those cold, dark shadows, a part of her? It made sudden, unexpected sense It explained how even fro, even when it scared her, Luce hadn't been able to stop herself froh theerous Even when Daniel gaped at her like she'd committed some horrible cri Was it possible that they really were?

Her past, once so unknowable, was out there, and all she had to do was step through into the right doorways? She could see who she'd been, what had drawn Daniel to her, why their love had been daed over time And, most importantly, what they could be in the future

We're already well on our way somewhere, Bill said, but now that you knohat you and your Announcers are capable of, the next tih, you need to think about what you want And don't think place or ti to tidy the juht make any sense out loud

Why not try it out now? Bill said Just for practice Might give us a heads-up about e're going to walk into Think about what it is you're after

Understanding, she said slowly

Good, Bill said What else?

A nervous energy was coursing through her, as if she was on the brink of so important I want to find out why Daniel and I were cursed And I want to break that curse I want to stop love froether--for real

Whoa, whoa, whoa Bill started waving his hands like a et crazy This is a very long-standing daainst here You and Daniel, it's likeI don't know, you can't just snap your pretty little fingers and break out of that You gotta start sht, Luce said Okay Then I should start by getting to know one of my past selves Get up close and see her relationship with Daniel unfold See if she feels the sa, a wacky se of the ledge I think you're ready Let's go

Lets go? The gargoyle was co with her? Out of the Announcer and into another past? Yes, Luce could use souy

You're wondering why you should trust me, aren't you? Bill asked

No, I--

I get it, he said, hovering in the air in front of her I'm an acquired taste Especially co I'el He snorted But I can help make this journey worth your while We can et sick ofclawed hand

Luce shuddered Bill's hand was crusty with rocky cysts and scabs of lichen, like a ruined statue The last thing she wanted to do was take it in her own hand But if she didn't, if she sent hiht be better off with hilanced down at her feet The short wet ledge beneath the Between her shoes, soht her eye, a shisofteningswaying under her feet

Luce looked behind her The slab of rock was cru, all the way to the wall of the cave She stue jerked beneath her--harder--as the particles that held the rock together began to break apart The ledge disappeared around her, faster and faster, until fresh air brushed the backs of her heels and she juht hand into Bill's extended claw They shook in the air

Hoe get out of here? she cried, grasping tight to hi into the abyss she couldn't see

Follow your heart Bill was bea, calm It won't ht of Daniel A feeling of weightlessness overcaht her breath When she opened her eyes, she was soh static-filled darkness The stone cave shifted and pulled in on itself into a sone

Luce glanced over, and Bill was right there with her

What was the first thing I ever told you? he asked

Luce recalled how his voice had seemed to reach all the way inside her