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I chewed through a last hunk of garlic bread and set down my fork The bread and PowerBar would have to do for now "Save the rest for ?" Claudia said

"It ht be rote of all of you, but I’ve never heard Luciana’s rant It’s as good of a place to start as any"

Raphael stood up "I’ll go with you"

"You don’t have to" If I got caught, I didn’t want hiet in any trouble I said as much and he shook his head at me

"Trust me It’ll be better for you if I’m with you I kno to handle Luciana"

Somehow I doubted that, but we headed out to the ether

Houses and other buildings butted up against the dirt road, but there definitely wasn’t enough space for more than sixty people I wondered who decided who lived on the compound and who didn’t Was it based on soht was quiet, and if I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was back at St Ailbe’s The scents were nearly the sa cooked intruded on my illusion

The little steeple of the schoolhouse cut into the sky up ahead It wasn’t that tall, but the white paint stood out against the setting sun "So do you go to school there?"

"I used to" Raphael paused "When we get there, try to be as quiet as possible Luciana didn’t invite you for a reason"

"What do youfro in there will show her that you’re not comfortable In my experience, it’s much better to have your eneround He tossed fro trouble with spells, but if you could ood"

I shookworks"

"Well, thenup for you A charies away could help I’ll talk to Claudia about it"

I nodded

The schoolhouse was still a little ways away, but Raphael started walking between the houses "You’ve got really good hearing, right?"

"Yup"