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Miles paused "Luce was pretty mad when she left everyone in the backyard I hope that whenever Daniel finds her, she forgives hi how much he had--at one point--truly cared about Luce Admittedly, Shelby hadn’t ever felt that way about anyone In fact, she was legendary for choosing the absolute worst guys to date Phil? Come on! If she hadn’t fallen for him, the Outcasts wouldn’t have tracked Luce down and she wouldn’t have had to juh the Announcer, and Miles and Shelby wouldn’t be stuck here right now Covered in mud

But that wasn’t the point The point was: Shelby was aa-love with someone else But he wasn’t That was Miles

"She’ll forgive hih to dive through et over myself"

"Oh, that’s all it would take?" Miles elbowed her

On impulse, she swatted his stomach with the back of her hand It was the way she and herBut Shelby was usually a lot more reserved with people outside her nuclear fahts "Right now you and I need to focus on getting to town, finding an angel who can help us, andthat hat in the meantime, Shelby added inside her head as she and Miles broke into a jog, following the cart toward the city

The tavern stood about a e field It was a sn of weathered wood, and big barrels of ale lined up against its walls

Shelby and Miles had jogged past hundreds of trees stripped of their leaves by the cold, androad to the city There really wasn’t all that ht of the cart after Shelby got a stitch in her side and had to slon, but now, serendipitously, they spotted it parked outside the tavern

"That’s our guy," Shelby said under her breath "He probably stopped in for a drink Sucker We’ll just snatch the hat back and be on our way"

Miles nodded, but as they slipped around the back of the cart, Shelby spotted the man in the fur vest inside the doorway, and her heart sank She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he held Miles’s hat in his hands and was showing it off to the innkeeper as proudly as if it were a rare gehtened his shoulders "You knohat, I’ll get another one You can buy theht" Shelby swatted the canvas tarp of the on in frustration The force of her blow sent a corner billowing up For just a second, she caught a glimpse of a heap of boxes inside

"Hmm" She snaked her head under the tarp

Underneath, it was cold and a little fetid, craes filled with sleeping speckled hens, heavy sacks of feed, a burlap bag of mismatched iron tools, and loads of wooden boxes She tried the lid of one of the boxes, but it wouldn’t budge

"What are you doing?" Miles asked

Shelby gave a crooked s that looked like a small crowbar in the sack of tools, she pried open the lid of the closest box "That’s a bingo"

"Shelby?"

"If we’re going into town, these clothesstatereen hoodie for effect "Don’t you think?"

Back under the tarp she found sorown by the driver’s fae

Soon, he held a long, pale-green linen goith bell sleeves and an e down its center, a pair of les, and a bonnet that looked sort of like a nun’s wi to wear?" Miles joked

Shelby had to rus, bent nails, and s that would work for Miles Finally, she pulled out a simple blue robe ainst this buffeting wind; it was long enough to cover his Nikes; and for some reason it occurred to Shelby that the color was perfect for his eyes

Shelby unzipped her green hoodie and slung it over the back of the cart Goose bu dress over her jeans and tank top

Miles still looked reluctant "I feel weird stealing stuff that guy was probably taking into town to sell," he whispered

"Karma, Miles He stole your hat"

"No, he found ot a family to support?"

Shelby whistled under her breath "You’d never ed--"unless you had me there to look after you Look, co else to the cosreen hoodie into the box "Who knows? Maybe hoodies will be all the rage next season in the anatomy theaters, or whatever they do for fun around here"

Miles held the taupe bonnet above Shelby’s head But it wouldn’t fit over her ponytail, so he tugged on the elastic band Her blond hair tumbled down her shoulders Now she felt self-conscious Her hair was a complete beast She never wore it down But Miles’s eyes lit up as he placed the bonnet on her head

"M’lady" He gallantly held out his hand "Might I have the pleasure of acco you into this fair city?"

If Luce had been here, back when all three of thes were a little less complicated, Shelby would have known just how to joke back Luce would have put on her sweet, deht in shining armor or so sarcastic, and then everyone would have burst out laughing, and the weird tension Shelby felt across her shoulders, the tightness in her chest--it would have gone away Everything would have felt normal, whole