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She raised an eyebrow

"Do you--do you believe inlyric A joke If Ginger didn’t understand, Mateo figured, she’d laugh or shrug Blow it off

But Ginger went stiff Her usual ease had vanished; now her face was pale, and she didn’t seeht? Had to Mateo decided to venture onethat would seem totally innocent to anybody asn’t knee-deep in witchcraft: "I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately Hey, you know Elizabeth Pike, right?"

The razor clattered to the linoleum floor, where it buzzed and jittered a up ide eyes, until she thudded into the far wall

"Hey--don’t be scared" Mateo got up, held out his hands He felt stupid trying to do this with a black plastic apron around his neck, so he quickly took that off "It’s okay It is, really"

Ginger slid along the wall to her front desk, like she was going for the phone to call 911 Did she think he’d gone crazy, like all the Cabots? Or was her fear much deeper--because it was based in the truth?

Mateo tried, "Is this--are you freaking out because--because of--?" He gestured toward her throat

That was obviously the last straw for Ginger Grabbing a pen and an appoint, then held it up for Mateo to see: GET OUT!

He got out

Running down the street, beneath the roiling sky and the chained houses--the whole surreal landscape he was learning to recognize as the truth of his horabbed his phone out of his pocket and hit Nadia’s naer"

"What?"

"Ginger Goncalves The woman who cuts my hair Either she’s a witch or she knows about the the sidewalk, free hand balled in the pocket of his letter jacket, Mateo described her version of the halo--the coiled black noose around Ginger’s neck "Maybe I should have asked her about it differently--I don’t know"

"You did the best you could," Nadia said Her voice was soft "She wouldn’t have been able to understand why a guy was talking to her about it You’re the one and only ht about that for a second "You er’s a witch, too?"

"I always knew there would be er’s not a witch herself, she knows about the Craft through … her mother, maybe, or a close friend And she has to know soive her a day or so to cal after ot out of there"