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And you You should take your own advice and leave this place, Daniel said gri in here

At least this body's pain distracts me from the pain in my soul, his past self said No I wish you luck, but I won't leave these walls now Not until she's settled in her next incarnation

Daniel's wings bristled at his neck He tried to sort out ti around the saht She--she should be settled now In conception Can't you feel it?

Oh, his imprisoned past self said softly He closed his eyes I don't know that I can feel anything anyhtmare

No, it's not Not anymore I'll find her I'll redeeet out of there, desperately taking another leap of faith through time

Chapter Thirteen

STAR-CROSSED

LONDON, ENGLAND JUNE 29, 1613

So crunched under Luce's feet

She raised the heown: A layer of discarded walnut shells on the ground was so thick the stringy brown bits rose up over the buckles of her eh-heeled slippers

She was at the rear of a noisy crowd of people Alrays, the wooith ruched bodices and wide cuffs at the ends of their bell sleeves Thetheir shoulders, and flat caps made of wool She'd never stepped out of an Announcer into such a public place before, but here she was, in the --and riotously loud

Look out! Bill grabbed the neck of her velvet capelet and yanked her backward, pinning her against the wooden rail of a staircase

A heartbeat later, two gri that sent a trio of wo over one another The women heaved themselves back up and shouted curses at the boys, who jeered back, barely slowing down

Next ti his stone claws around his h exercises into a ? How a in the middle of this ed back just as the boys playing tag zipped by again Where are we?

You've circled the globe to find yourself in the Globe, milady Bill sketched a little bow

The Globe Theatre? Luce ducked as the wo by tossing it over her shoulder You mean, like, Shakespeare?

Well, he claims to be retired You know those artist types Soat the he to hi a moment to let it all sink in The Te in the center of all the greatest love stories ever written

Actually, you're standing in walnut shells Why do you have to be so glib about everything? This is a!

Sorry, I didn't realize we'd need a moment of bardolatry His words caed teeth Now stand still

Ouch! Luce yelped as he jabbed sharply into her kneecap What are you doing?

Un-Anachronizing you These folks'll pay goodit to stay onstage Bill worked quickly, discreetly tucking the long, draped fabric of her black gown from Versailles into a series of folds and cri the sides He knocked away her black wig and pulled her hair into a frizzy pouf Then he eyed the velvet capelet around her shoulders He whipped off the soft fabric At last, he hocked a giant loogie into one hand, rubbed his palh Jacobean collar

That is seriously disgusting, Bill

Be quiet, he snapped Next ti do'? I don't He jerked his head at the jeering throngs Luckilyout of the shadows at the back of the roo at thee It was just a platfor at the back of the rowdy crowd, Luce had trouble seeing it clearly

Come on, now! a boy shouted from the back Don't make us wait all day!

Above the croere three tiers of box seats, and then nothing: the O-shaped amphitheater opened on aLuce looked around for her past self For Daniel

We're at the opening of the Globe She thought back to Daniel's words under the peach trees at Sword & Cross Daniel told me ere here

Sure, you were here, Bill said About fourteen years ago Perched on your older brother's shoulder You came with your family to see Julius Caesar

Bill hovered in the air a foot in front of her It was unappetizing, but the high collar around her neck actually seemed to hold its shape She alher boxes

And Daniel? she asked

Daniel was a player--

Hey!

That's what they call the actors Bill rolled his eyes He was just starting out then To everyone else in the audience, his debut was utterly forgettable But to little three-year-old Lucinda--Bill shrugged--it put the fire in you You've been quote-unquote dying to get onstage ever since Tonight's your night

I'm an actor?

No Her friend Callie was the actor, not her During Luce's last seed Luce to try out with her for Our Town The two of theot one line, but Callie had brought the house doith her portrayal of Es, proud of and awed by her friend Callie would have sold off her life's possessions to stand in the old Globe Theatre for one e

But then Luce reels battle the Outcasts What had happened to Callie after Luce had left? Where were the Outcasts noould Luce ever explain to Callie, or her parents, what had happened--if, that is, Luce ever returned to her backyard and that life?

Because Luce kne that she wouldn't go back to that life until she'd figured out how to stop it fro Until she'd unraveled this curse that forced her and Daniel to live out the saain