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I got on my haunches, so much more curious, and still so wary My hand went to feel for my leather backpack on instinct Just in case

“And what special tricks ht those be?” I asked, one eyebrow raised

Sam stared down the aisle and sucked on the inside of his cheeks, playing coy Then he looked at ed “That’s for me to know, and you to find out”

I rested my chin on ht all along You knohat the Tome of Annihilation is, don’t you?”

He froze, much in the same way he did the day I saw him at Valero Public But the sudden tensionlooser

“I rih I could tell by the stiffness of his shoulders that he still held some hesitation

“Which e? Or at the very least, someone who knows about the Veil?”

Again, the last thing I wanted was to spook him Truly, what I really wanted to ask was plain and simple But it still sounded totally stupid and completely insane, even inside my head Are you actually a book?

“I’ his book “Let’s put it that way”

I let ns of another expedient escape – as if I could stop him

“I mean, clearly there’s more to you than meets the eye”

“Hey,” Sae a book by its cover”

“Very funny,” I said The corner ofmore

“Besides,” he continued “I could say the same for you”

He reached out his hand, stopping just short of my shirt, and I nearly stuers splayed inches away from my scar, my heart Oddly I could sense that he didn’t mean me harm Not just yet