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"I did have regrets these past six months," he told , all that tis I could have said, that I should have told you"

"John!" The voice ca you, but I think I was really trying to spare rateful for s simpler I didn’t have to worry; I didn’t have to risk--"

"John!" the voice cariain And his expression was fiercer than I’d seen it in a while "But somewhere in the last six months, I realized that, after what happened to my wife, I returned to earth, yes But I didn’t return to life I was as much a prisoner there as I was at court Not just because of the curse, but because I wouldn’t allow myself--"

"John!" The voice was closer now It was Caleb’s

Pritkin said sorabbed my arms "Cassie, I don’t kno this will turn out With the council, there’s no way to know But whatever happens, I want you to knoant you to relad I had a chance to know you I’o-- now They’re calling for you--they have a ruling!"

"Of course they do," Pritkin said "Of course they bloody do!"

And, apparently, you don’t keep the deged back down the sidewalk, Pritkin and Caleb gri, andlike a tornado

Not because of what Pritkin had said; I couldn’t think about that now But because they had to let hi Mother had said, they couldn’t justcould they?

I didn’t know They were like a uess I had enough trouble figuring out how centuries-old va the behavior of creatures who made them look like children All I kneas that they really hadn’t liked Mother, and as her child, I wasn’t any more popular As Pritkin was a repeat offender, as far as they were concerned But like Mo to cough up an ar in the front doors at the same time that the double ones to the council chaht they were the type to expect us to come to them, not the other way around But the blond de toward us, and his hand was extended and there was a smile on his face And that looked--dear God, it looked--Caleb said soful of relief behind it And I turned to hi his arm Because we’d done it, finally, we’d done it--

And then soh that we both went staggering And there was a sound, new and deafeningly loud And a cry, of such tortured anguish that it cut through the air, spinningmy head up--

To see Pritkin, lit for a ainst another explosion But this ti it

His , and neither was the rest of hiht halfway through a jued to freeze time But I hadn’t; I knew I hadn’t I could still see dust olden yellow and burning like the sun--

And then it engulfed him and he fell, still rab hi fro out between guards and councilon me as I pushed and shovedhi at Rosier, "What happened? What happened?"

"What happened?" Green eyes blazed into rief and incandescent with hate "What happened is that you killed my son!"

Chapter Thirty-three

Half an hour later, I was back inat another scene of carnage It felt unreal, like the one I’d just left It felt impossible

"It happened shortly after you left us," Jonas said "We only o"

I tried to look like I was paying attention as he said so in and out, like a distant loudspeaker in a high wind And even when I could hear the words, they sometimes didn’t make sense

Like the scenes in rabbed the too-limp body Pritkin’s head dropped back, the short blond strands falling against my arm, soft, too soft without whatever product he usually used on the Like the body, so horribly still, or the face, lacking wit or anger or those weird flashes of hu

"No" I felt my skin ice over

"It was a bomb, obviously," Jonas said "Likely a number of the for the exact cause"