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Alan’s voice was so low and measured, almost musical, that it was like a lullaby Then what he was actually saying began to seep through theher mind

“Even if it all worked out, if Nick obeys all the stupid human rules I want him to follow, someday I’ll die And he won’t He could keep the body alive forever or do without one And he could get lonely and invite his demon friends in out of the cold He could lose every word he ever learned He’s lived a thousand different lives and forgotten theet this one There are sothat in the end one of them will A lot of people will die And it will be my fault”

Mae ake now Chill h the closed car , slipping slivers of cold down her neck

“I was the one who put my brother ahead of the whole world,” Alan said softly His voice was still beautiful, even though it was so bleak “I had no right to htless desperation I thought I chose Two innocent people are dead already, and I had absolutely no right!”

“You had your reasons”

Mae reicians of the Obsidian Circle and that terrible athered around the circle where Nick had stood trapped and snarling, like witches around a cauldron with a child in it So siician she’d killed for Jamie She’d wanted to kill someone for him, she’d planned it, and she’d seized the chance when she had it, and then she had discovered she could notshadows; darkened your whole future, as far as you could see

She kne it lingered in memory, the blood on your hands

“No reason could be good enough,” said Alan, his voice breaking on the words

They drove through the mist in silence

When they pulled up outside Alan and Nick’s house, Mae thought for a ht on

Mae hadn’t brought her house key, and Jamie was in no mood to let her in if she threw pebbles at hisWhat Annabel would say if Mae rang the doorbell at half past five in theabout, so Alan had volunteered his bed

“I will be taking the sofa,” Mae said mid-yawn Alan reached over and undid her seat belt, and she batted at hiht you for it”

That hen Alan leaned forward, squinting through the windshield Mae’s eyes followed his line of vision, and they both noticed the light

Nobody had accidentally left the lights on, Mae realized after awith a peculiar brightness, sending out brilliant yellow rays like searchlights Its gloas cut into four sections by black iron

“That’s a—” Alan began

“Beacon lamp,” Mae finished

“Lights the path back you have to follow,” Alan said, as if he was quoting “Calls your wanderer ho out of the car, hand on the door helping hi to the Goblin Market,” he said as he came around to her side

Mae foiled his chivalrous intentions by opening her door herself and leaping out Alan shrugged, s his keys and still talking, very casual, head bent over the keys as if he thought he could possibly hide how pleased he was

“He shouldn’t be wasting a beacon la the door to let her in “I’ll have a ith him about it They’re expensive It was silly”

“Sure it was,” said Mae, and Alan shot her a look over his glasses, warm and a little embarrassed

The light fro rooh a door left ajar into the little hall Alan pushed open the door gently, and once it was fully open Mae understood why

Nick was asleep on the sofa, one elbow pillowing his head, long legs hooked over one of the sofa arms That couldn’t have been comfortable

Alan limped into the room

“Hey,” he said quietly “Hey, wake up We’re home”

Nick’s eyes snapped open and he said, “I’m awake, I’m up,” in a clear voice, then turned his face into his ar shadows on his pale face

“No, you’re not,” Alan told his brother, voice pitched low and sith no intention of waking him He reached out and brushed black locks carefully back froesture Nick would in no way have allohen awake

Even in sleep it ray T-shirt twisted around his torso clile of his hps and the flat of his stomach where a black leather band was fastened, the hilt of a knife pressed against his skin

“Does he, uh, generally sleep armed?” Mae asked, and then saw Nick stir and shut her , and his head came up a little She withdrew

Alan glanced back at her “We both do”

Mae didn’t want to wake Nick, so she stayed quiet Alan stood there looking down at Nick, fingers poised a fraction of an inch fro face

Nick did not , no snores or sighs, not a

Alan h and limped away to put out the beacon lamp

Mae went to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was until she poured the water down her throat, feeling it splash cold and lovely onto her parched tongue She leaned against the counter and hung on to her glass, fingers sliding in the condensation

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Alan’s voice was so low and measured, almost musical, that it was like a lullaby Then what he was actually saying began to seep through theher mind

“Even if it all worked out, if Nick obeys all the stupid human rules I want him to follow, someday I’ll die And he won’t He could keep the body alive forever or do without one And he could get lonely and invite his demon friends in out of the cold He could lose every word he ever learned He’s lived a thousand different lives and forgotten theet this one There are sothat in the end one of them will A lot of people will die And it will be my fault”

Mae ake now Chill h the closed car , slipping slivers of cold down her neck

“I was the one who put my brother ahead of the whole world,” Alan said softly His voice was still beautiful, even though it was so bleak “I had no right to htless desperation I thought I chose Two innocent people are dead already, and I had absolutely no right!”

“You had your reasons”

Mae reicians of the Obsidian Circle and that terrible athered around the circle where Nick had stood trapped and snarling, like witches around a cauldron with a child in it So siician she’d killed for Jamie She’d wanted to kill someone for him, she’d planned it, and she’d seized the chance when she had it, and then she had discovered she could notshadows; darkened your whole future, as far as you could see

She kne it lingered in memory, the blood on your hands

“No reason could be good enough,” said Alan, his voice breaking on the words

They drove through the mist in silence

When they pulled up outside Alan and Nick’s house, Mae thought for a ht on

Mae hadn’t brought her house key, and Jamie was in no mood to let her in if she threw pebbles at hisWhat Annabel would say if Mae rang the doorbell at half past five in theabout, so Alan had volunteered his bed

“I will be taking the sofa,” Mae said mid-yawn Alan reached over and undid her seat belt, and she batted at hiht you for it”

That hen Alan leaned forward, squinting through the windshield Mae’s eyes followed his line of vision, and they both noticed the light

Nobody had accidentally left the lights on, Mae realized after awith a peculiar brightness, sending out brilliant yellow rays like searchlights Its gloas cut into four sections by black iron

“That’s a—” Alan began

“Beacon lamp,” Mae finished

“Lights the path back you have to follow,” Alan said, as if he was quoting “Calls your wanderer ho out of the car, hand on the door helping hi to the Goblin Market,” he said as he came around to her side