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“He told me he’d let us knoe stepped off the correct path”

“Does this feel correct to you?”

“I’ve asked him to use his powers as little as possible I hoped it would make him clearer”

Jackher head Matthew followed her Finn ies to Lark, then hastened over like ere huddling up

“Well, Matthew?” I asked “Give us the skinny on her”

He whispered, “Basement”

Huh? “Does she mean to do us harm?”

“Good Bad Good Bad Good Good Bad Bad Good Bad Good—”

“I get the picture,” I said, interrupting With a sigh, I brushed his wet hair off his brow “Thank you, sweetheart We’re going to figure this out”

Jack asked us, “You think this fille’s telling the truth?”

Finn glanced to Lark and back “Totally”

“I think she’s a little liar” Selena“I don’t believe a word of this”

“Yeah, but you don’t trust anybody,” I pointed out

“I trust you,” she said, surprising me “I believe you will do what you say and not lie to me”

I froith realization I kind of trusted her too

Selena tilted her head atthe truth?”

I couldn’t be certain But I knew I’d have to chance it—because we needed nuame, but only if we attracted more players to our movement “I think we have to take a leap and trust her, for no other reason than to grow our alliance”

Selena rolled her eyes

“I have to look at the big picture on this,” I explained “Plus, what she saysin, and we tripped the cannibals’ alarain, like I was a leader Screw it; I owned it “If we believe these things, then we should assume there’s a booby-trapped canyon So the next step is deciding which of the options she presented is the least likely to get us killed”

Finn said, “I think we should stay and use our powers” Glancing at ht, uh, have trouble getting down a rocky canyon?”

Another dafuq? look from Jackson “Worry about yourself—I’ll carry her ass if I have to”

I laid ht We should use our powers” And my MO was to lie in wait

Orany of our leg bones in half

“Then we’re going to need Lark’s wolves too,” Finn said “I say we call her over”

We all gazed at her The falcon had just returned to land on her shoulder, shaking off its feathers She rubbed her nose against its beak

“You’re kidding, right?” Selena looked aghast Just as I hadn’t trusted her, Selena didn’t trust Lark

But Finn had already waved the girl over

“What did you decide?” Lark askedrainwater “Then let’s be sot a pair, best thing to do is loves” I frowned “It’s e did to break you out of the ers are to take down If there are twice as men, the Teeth stand no chance Selena, letit over

Jack slung his crossbow over his back “Reround? It’s a kill zone, a tactical nightet out of If the cannibals are in trucks, they’ll have to drive through there to get as close to us as possible So we lure the Baggers to theet them to chase us”

Jack as bait? There had to be a better way

Selena studied the area “It’s perfect, but we’d be creatingthe victied “Lesser of two evils At least Baggers can’t think”

“I have an idea,” I said “We should drive the Bag them”

Finn tapped a spot on the map “I coulda funnel into Evie’s briars”

“My wolves could nip at their heels, driving the on theauntlet of briars, snapping wolves, illusions, and arrows “If this works, those cannibals would be dead, and the Bagmen would drink from them for days We’d have plenty of tiet ready?”

How long for h to create a plant feature like that? “Two hours?”

In French, Jack said to irl and find out if any of this is even approaching true”

13

Crunch

I grih a bone

After co our preparations, we’d found a nearby cave, unable to do anything but kick back and wait for the battle to come Lark’s falcon would keep us updated on any arrivals Once we’d settled in, her wolves—Scarface, Cyclops, and Maneater—had disappeared for a while, co back with old bones Huotta eat Corpses are AF Alpo”

To distractout atof beauty, if I did say so h walls, thickly tangled Iainst the ashy black earth Thorns jutted out protectively, each a few inches long

I wanted to live a the stalks, but I doubted Jack would want to live with ainst his chest Blood loss had leftup from the heat of him and fro at the flames, while Selena tweaked more of her makeshift arrows

Lark sat shoulder to shoulder with Finn, with the wolves spread out behind her We’d learned that these olves had heightened intelligence, ferocity—and apparently appetites

Crunch Crunch

Jack see all this insanity well Earlier, when I’d rolled up my coat sleeve to make the first slice of my skin, he’d been uneasy

“Are you sure you want to see this?” I’d asked, hesitating with my claws above one wrist