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Co her teeth

At last, the Announcer freed itself, zipping off the tree and through the air, floating directly in front of her

Easy now, Bill said, hovering above the branch Desperation and Announcer-travel do not mix well Like pickles and chocolate

Luce stared at hiet so desperate that you lose sight of what you want

I want to get out of here, Luce said, but she couldn't coax the shadow into a stable shape, noat the lovers on the beach, but nonetheless she could feel the darkness gathering in the sky over the beach It wasn't rain clouds Helpfor the dark mass in the air, and drew it toward hi it, but it's your Announcer and your past

Luce nodded

Whichyou, and I have no liability

She nodded again Okay, then He rubbed at a part of the Announcer until it went darker; then he caught the dark spot with a claw and yanked on it It worked like a sort of doorknob The stink of h

Yeah, I sestured her forward Ladies first

PRUSSIA ? JANUARY 7, 1758

A snowflake kissed Luce's nose

Then another, and another, and more, until a storm of flurries filled the air and the whole world turned white and cold She exhaled a long cloud of breath into the frost

Soh she wasn't exactly sure where here was All she kneas that the afternoon skies were dark with a furious storh her black leather boots, biting at her toes and chilling her to the bone

She alking into her own funeral

She'd felt it in the instant passing through this last Announcer An onco as a sheet of ice She found herself at the gates of a ce blanketed by snow Behind her was a tree-lined road, the bare branches clawing at the pewter sky Before her was a low rise of snow-shrouded earth, toed, dirty teeth

A few feet behind her, someone whistled You sure you're ready for this? Bill He sounded out of breath, like he'd just caught up with her

Yes Her lips were chattering She didn't turn around until Bill swooped down near her shoulders

Here, he said, holding out a dark ht be cold

Where did you--

I yoinked it off a broad co hoh natural padding already

Bill!

Hey, you needed it! He shrugged Wear it in good health

He draped the thick coat over Luce's shoulders, and she pulled it closer It was unbelievably soft and warratitude rushed over her; she reached up and took his claw, not even caring that it was sticky and cold

Okay, Bill said, squeezing her hand For a ertips But then it was gone, and Bill's stone fingers were stone cold He took a deep, nervous breath Uhteenth century You live in a se on the banks of the river Handel Very nice He cleared his throat and hacked up a large wad of phlegm before he went on I should say, er, that you lived You've actually, just--well--

Bill? She craned her neck to look at hi hunched forward on her shoulder It's okay, she said softly You don't have to explain Let me just, you know, feel it

That's probably best

As Luce walked quietly through the ceed on top of a lichen-swathed shrine, picking at the grit under his claws Luce lowered her shawl over her head to obscure more of her face Up ahead were ether for warrief Except for one person who stood behind the group and off to one side He hung his bare blond head

No one spoke to or even looked at Daniel Luce couldn't tell whether he was bothered by being left out or whether he preferred it

By the time she reached the back of the s to a close A naray tombstone: Lucinda M?ller A boy, no older than twelve, with dark hair and pale skin and tears strea down his face, helped his father--her father frorave

These men must have been related to her past self Theybehind the to the to them

But Luce Price didn't know these people She felt callous and strange to realize that theyto her, even as she saw the pain mar their faces Daniel was the only one here who really mattered to her, the one she wanted to run to, the one she had to hold herself back fro at the grave like everyone else His hands were clasped in front of hi far away--not at the sky, but far into the distance His eyes were violet one ray the next

When the family members had cast a few shovelfuls of dirt over the casket and the plot had been scattered with flowers, the funeral-goers split apart and walked shakily back to the main road It was over

Only Daniel re back, too, dodging behind a squatto see what he would do

It was dusk They had the graveyard to themselves Daniel lowered hirave Snow thru Luce's shoulders, fat flakes getting tangled in her eyelashes, wetting the tip of her nose She edged around the corner of the mausoleum, her entire body tensed

Would he lose it? Would he claw at the frozen dirt and pound on the gravestone and bawl until there were no more tears he could shed? He couldnt feel as calm as he looked It was irave He lay down on his side in the snow and closed his eyes

Luce stared He was so still and gorgeous With his eyelids closed, he looked at absolute peace She was half in love, half confused, and stayed that way for several minutes--until she was so frozen, she had to rub her ar? she finally whispered