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Tobin’s sorrowful o ofin his eyes, not just hear it coursing off hi for ets But ouldn’t she try to stop the his face Or et her back," he says "I’uy did it That’s what your dad’s play is about, isn’t it? He went down there and got his wife back"

And failed "I don’t think it works that way…"

"I’ to this idea like it’s the only thing keeping hi od had failed at trying to bring his loved one back from the world of the dead Instead, I just nod and let hi off the edge

When the others retire to our hotel roo to Tobin had done exactly what I feared it would--it had made all of this real Far too real The soft, filh had been eaten away by cold, harsh reality Tobin’s hope only makes it worse It makes him seem naive and delusional, andThat the world, as I have known it for seventeen years, is a lie, that it hides terrible secrets like ods, Cyphers and Keys, and a selfish underworld prince who isn’t going to stop until he gets what he wants:this Oracle can do to help me stop it? Is there anywhere I can hide where they wouldn’t just huntthe Cypher be as catastrophic as Haden had tried to make me believe?

Do I really have a choice in any of this?

I wander the hotel, looking for a distraction Anything that can bring back that easy fil into the casino, where people sit atlike dull zombies, but someone barks at h the area No kids allowed I keep walking until I find myself at the Crossroads Blues Club--the place where o The place that led to a drive-thru wedding and a three-day honeyot a call from that talent scout and he ran off to become a rock star I expect someone else to yell at me when I walk into the club, but instead, the reen staht half of the room is reserved for "contestants and their families"

The club is di since it reminds me of Joe This is the place where it had all started I probably wouldn’t have ever been born if ht

I laugh to s to and I desperately want to escape

I want to forget

A waitress stops at a booth with a tray of shot glasses She sets it on an eroup of frat boys who’ve called her over

I’ve always despised Joe for his drinking I’ve never understood his need to drown out the world But at that et--if only for one night I want to stop feeling I want to be nuo away

While the waitress is distracted, I snag four shot glasses--two in each hand--and retreat to a secluded booth in the back of the club Where I can drown in the dark