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He opened his , then snapped it closed Footsteps echoed behind her, and she turned Her dad approached, her backpack dangling from his arm She closed the distance between the his cheek before she could talk herself out it

"I’ll see you later, Dad Thanks for breakfast"

The tension in his face eased just a bit "See you later, honey I hope you have a wonderful day"

"You, too"

His gaze shifted to the boy still standing in the doorway "Riley," he acknowledged stiffly

They’d met once, but only briefly Her dad didn’t know it, but Riley was older than he was By, like, a hundred years As a shape-shifter, Riley aged slowly Very, very slowly

"Dr Gray," Riley returned, respectful as always

"Mary Ann," her dad said, attention returning to her "You ht want to take a jacket"

It was the first of November and every day was a little colder than the last But she said, "I’ll be fine" Riley would keep her warm "I promise" Pleasantries done, Mary Ann returned to the door, pushed the screen open with her shoulder, and grabbed Riley’s war him As a human and a wolf

As they walked, he confiscated her pack with his free hand

"Thanks"

"Not a probleh the sun was ray Blackbirds were squawking continuously--they stayed in Crossroads all year round--and the air was cool and crisp Still hand-in-hand, they bypassed the few houses surrounding hers

Each house was shaped like a train station of yore, with posts, decks, colored wood and sloped two-story roofs Once they’d passed the very last one, they approached a brick wall about half a mile ahead, a heavily populated forest directly behind it The trees there were thick, their leaves now yellow and red

Her dad assu on well-traveled, paved roads Not cutting through the forest Her dad rong Soirl needed to be alone with her boyfriend, with no prying eyes Or ears The walk to Crossroads High was one of those times

"I can’t believe how much time has passed since I last saw you," she said

"I know I’m sorry Feels like eternity to me, too I wanted to see you, believeinto the house in preparation for Vlad’s funeral"

"I’ his hand "About his death I know you respected him"

"Thank you We have to wait fourteen days before we can hold the funeral--no, thirteen now, I guess After that, Aden will be officially crowned king"

"Why wait fourteen days for the funeral?" She did not want to i around for teeks

Riley shrugged "He was king The people want to make sure he’s dead"

"Wait He could be alive?"

"No"

"But you just said--"

"The people want to make sure he’s dead, I know, but they’re in shock, hopeful Nothing like this has ever happened to them before"

She could understand that She’d been a mess after both her moms had died "Aden will be happy to have a reprieve, at least He’s not looking forward to being king, I don’t think"

"Oh, he’s already king, no doubt about that Not even Vlad could recover fro, "But you just said--"

"I know, I know The thing is, alive or dead, Vlad isn’t ruling us and someone needs to rule us or there’ll be chaos, deserters and takeover attempts"