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He must have been so scared

Dizziness tilts the ground beneathunder

So I force ain That’s the first thing I want the other Marguerite to see I want that e to stay with her, noover those words in her mind, that will awaken me within her as surely as the Firebird could My hate is stronger than the dier than time My hate is now the truest part of who I am

The dizziness builds, and the world turns fuzzy and gray, blackening the words KILL PAUL MARKOV—

—and then my vision clears The word KILL sharpens back into focus

Confused, I step back from the brick wall I feel wide awake More so than before, actually

And as I stand there, staring down atanywhere

Finally, as I begin to trust my luck, I step farther into the alley The rain beats down harder on my face as I look up into the storm-drenched sky A hovercraft looms low over the city like yet another thundercloud Apparently it’s there to fly holographic billboards across the city skyline Astonished, I gaze at the hovercraft as it soars through this strange new dih their motions in the sky around it: Nokia BMW Coca-Cola

This is so like my world, and yet not my world at all

Is Theo as overwhelrief is nearly as deep as h Dad was only his adviser; more than that, this is what Theo and my parents worked for these past few years Has he kept his hout the trip, ourthe selves born in this alternate di—which is kind of staggering, given that every other theory she’s ever had has just been proved true But I’ratitude disintegrates in the hot blaze of anger

Nothing can stop me now If Theo made it too and he can find me—and I want so desperately for hiet to Paul We can take back the Firebird prototype he stole And we can take our revenge for what he did to my father

I don’t know if I’m the kind of person who can kill ato find out

2

I’M NOT A PHYSICIST LIKE MOM NOT EVEN A GRAD STUDENT in physics like Paul and Theo I’ave ht-braineda whole lot her-level science In the fall, I’ to major in art restoration So if you want to mix oil paints, stretch a canvas, or discuss Kandinsky, I’ cross-dimensional travel? No such luck But here’s what I know: