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"I’d say ‘get a rooain," Arriane added, which caused theh
When Luce opened her eyes, Daniel had spread his wings wide The tips brushed away broken bits of plaster and blocked the Scale angels fro over his shoulder was the black leather satchel with the halo
The Outcasts gathered the scattered starshots back into their silver sheaths "Wingspeed, Daniel Grigori"
"To you as well" Daniel nodded at Phil He spun Luce around so her back was pressed to his chest and his arly around her waist They clasped hands over her heart
"The Foundation Library," Daniel said to the other angels "Follow me, I know exactly where it is"
NINE
THE DESIDERATA
Fog engulfed the angels They flew back over the river, four pairs of wingsa treh to the ground that the low of sodiuht did not land
Daniel was tense Luce could feel it running all through his body: in both his arned with hers, even in the s beat above theet to the Foundation Library as Daniel’s grip suggested he was
Only a few land spire of the massive Gothic church, and there the darkened Ferris wheel, its ereen copper dome of the palace where they’d landed when they first arrived in Vienna
But wait--they’d passed the palace already Maybe half an hour earlier Luce had tried to look for Olianna, who the Scale angel had knocked unconscious She hadn’t seen her on the roof then, and she didn’t see her now
Why were they circling? Were they lost?
"Daniel?"
He didn’t answer
Church bells rang in the distance It was their fourth ringing since Luce, Daniel, and the others had taken off through the shattered skylight at theti?
"Where is it?" Danielthe groove of the river, then breaking from it to trace a broad avenue lined with darkened department stores Luce had seen this street already, too They were flying in circles
"I thought you said you knew exactly where it was!"
Arriane dipped out of the for in--Daniel and Luce at the front, with Roland, Arriane, and Annabelle forle behind them--
and swooped down about ten feet below Daniel and Luce, close enough to talk Her hair ild and frizzy and her iridescent wings flickered in and out of the fog
"I do knohere it is," Daniel said "At least, I knohere it was "
"You’ve got an circuitous sense of direction, Daniel"
"Arriane" Roland used the warning tone he reserved for those too frequent occasions when Arriane went too far "Let him concentrate"
"Yeah yeah yeah" Arriane rolled her eyes "Better return to ‘forirls batted their eyelashes, flashed a peace sign with her fingers, and fell back
"Okay, so where was the library?" Luce asked
Daniel sighed, drew in his wings slightly, and dropped fifty feet straight down Cold wind blasted Luce in the face Her stoed up as they plummeted, then settled when Daniel stopped abruptly, as if he’d landed on an invisible tightrope, over a residential street
It was quiet and e stretches of stone townhouses spanning either side Shut-ters were drawn for the night Tiny cars rested in narrow angled spaces on the street Young urban oak trees punctuated the cobbled sidewalk that ran along the sels hovered on either side of Daniel and Luce, about twenty feet above street level
"This is where it was," Daniel said "It was here Six blocks from the river, just west of Türkenschanzpark I swear it was None of this"--he waved his hand at the stretch of indistinguishable stone townhouses below--
"was here"
Annabelle frowned and hugged her knees to her chest, her silver wings beating softly to keep her aloft
Her crossed ankles revealed hot-pink striped socks peeking out from her jeans "Do you think it was destroyed?"
"If it was," Daniel said, "I have no idea how to recover it"
"We’re screwed," Arriane said, kicking a cloud in frustration She glared at its wispy tendrils, which a as I think it’s going to be"
"Maybe we go to Avalon," Roland suggested "See if Caroup has had any more luck"
"We need all three relics," Daniel said