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Uzochi stepped into the swirling dust that was the center of the theater. He stood beside Zuberi, feeling how her energy shifted at his presence. He stared at his cousin, hatred coursing through his veins.
In the tunnels that led from the scrap yards in the Swamp to the theater, Uzochi had thought about his cousin and his uncle. How pain and abuse had shaped Lencho into who he was.

"It is an honor to be here with you all today, addressing important issues...together."
Sandra St. John knew her father's speeches by heart. Or, at the very least, she knew their intentions by heart, their mechanisms and the ways they were sewn together. he always used words like "together" and "we" and "uniting," making it clear that he and the people were working as one.

Diaval didn't respond right away. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Mistress," he began, "there's something I need to know."
Maleficent let out a sigh. He was ruining all her fun. "And what is that?" she asked, not bothering to hide her aggravation. What possibly could be so important that Diaval would take away from one of the few carefree moments Maleficent allowed herself?

She'd been glad to escape for a shopping trip the next day with Sloane, who was unaware that Emma's past had shown up like a body she'd thought buried. Instead, the teen had agonized over purple or pink nail polish, as if that held the key to making friends. Emma's nails remained unpolished--maybe for that very reason.
"Anyway. Screw him." Tia tilted her head to the entrance. "Ready?"
Emma inhaled. "Sure."

She could smell it now. With all she'd seen, Lace could feel the capital-N Nature bubbling up from below--not the fuzzy Nature at the petting zoo, or even the deadly but noble kind on the Nature Channel. this was the appalling, nasty, real-world version, snails' eyes getting eaten by trematodes, hookworms living inside a billion human beings, sucking at their guts; parasites controlling your mind and body.

Frankly, I was enjoying her company, especially the way she didn't hide her thoughts and opinions. That wasn't a luxury I could indulge in myself, of course, but it was good to hear Lace voicing every suspicion that went through her head. Saved me from being paranoid about what she was thinking.
I was feeling very in control, hanging out with a desirable woman without having a sexual fantasy every few seconds.

GLIMMERING LANE IS another place where the rich go to spend their spare money. There isn't a single shop where you could buy anything useful. Chairs too fragile to sit on; glass too thin to use, and jewellery so expensive that you wouldn't dare wear it out, for fear every robber in Scalentine would be drawn to it like flies to a corpse.
I edge into the first shop, clutching my scabbard against my leg.

BEFORE I was allowed out they dinned into me how I was to behave now that I was an Avatar, how I owed it to those who'd given me this opportunity, to do what they told me, how we were the foundations of all that held the land and the people together and that a single misstep could have terrible consequences.
"And no-one, no-one, is to know who you were," Hap-Canae told me. "The past is dead to us. It has to be."

My phone buzzes and I peek at the text. "Maggie, your mom is parking. She'll be here in a minute."
"Yeah, don't say anything without your lawyer present," adds Jess.
"Bridget Cleave is on campus?" Moss is the one who looks scared now. I wish I could stay to watch, but there are sprints to he'll to do in the gym.
Rafael Ramos-Sikes is waiting and watching from the back of the auditorium.

Aurora's eyes flutter closed, and she leans back in her hair. "It was Darling. Her eyes were hidden behind strange goggles made with clear green glass, and she sat in..."
My aunt opens her eyes to look at me, widening them. Fear pinches her mouth, but she adds, "She sat in the Dragon Throne, my blade."
I see it, too. Staring at Aurora's wide eyes I can see Darling enthroned. A Dragon.

It had been careful not to notice when he studied it as he ate. Now he said, "They said you could do almost anything. Some of them said your powers came from the devil. Some said you were devils. Some were disgusted with that kind of talk, To them, you were only the enemy. They didn't believe you had raped the Mother. They believed the Mother could be their tool to defeat you."

"Do you mean," Akin said, frowning, "that this new branch of the Oankali that we're intended to become could wind up fighting a war and destroying itself?"
"We don't think so. The ooloi have been very careful, checking themselves, checking each other. But if they're wrong, if they've made mistakes and missed them, Dinso will eventually be destroyed. Toaht will probably be destroyed. Only Akjai will survive."

The next morning dawns cool and clear, the last of the rain moving out, leaving wind roaring through the mountains. Sunlight glitters on the rooftops of the city, highlighting the raindrops left behind by the storm.
I'd hoped to wake to more rain, so Nolla Verin would be forced to postpone the demonstration of her riding skills, but that likely would have resulted in some indoor activity.

Tino watched the two ooloi and the two girls with interest. They did not seem to be arguing. In fact, they had ceased to speak at all--or ceased to speak aloud. Tino suspected they were still communicating somehow. There had always been a rumor that Oankali could read minds. He had never allowed it, but clearly something was happening.
"One thing," Wray said softly. "Listen."
Tino faced him questioningly.

"Kahguyaht must teach...same-sex child. You see?"
"And I'm part of the lesson," Lilith answered bitterly.
"Nikanj or Kahguyaht," Tediin said softly.
Lilith frowned, looked to Jdahya for an explanation.
"She means if you and Nikanj weren't supposed to be teaching each other, you would be learning from Kahguyaht."
Lilith shuddered. "Good god," she whispered. And seconds later, "Why couldn't it be you?"

He looks around before sighing. "Coach, I'm sorry for, uh... Yeah, if I'm honest, I'm not entirely sorry, but I will be as sorry as I need to be to stay on the team."
The guys all laugh at that.
"But I think we're all good now," he adds.
Coach rolls his eyes. "Thanks, but I think I make that call, and it is not all good. It's so far from all good, but don't worry."

What's wrong is my confidence is, like, dependent on Ryan. Which he doesn't understand, of course, since he only depends on himself. But I'm only 2.0, and I don't know how to ignore the way people give me a nod of approval once they realize I'm with Ryan. I don't how to forget I get invited to things because of Ryan, or that the only reason nobody makes fun of me anymore is because Ryan is so intimidating.

I get the Coke. He knocks it over. I go for napkins and he stops me. "They have people who do that."
"Forty, help me out here." I haven't seen him this fucked up since Vegas and I forgot how annoying it is. And at the same time, I want to save him; Love rubs off on me.
"I mean, a job's a job," he says. "You spill, they wipe."
I looked at his swollen face. "You don't hate me, do you?"
"Hate you?" he says.

"Well, I think that's what Trey did," she says. "He couldn't handle the idea of me and my family dealing with it. My parents are all about good things. But bad things..." She shakes her head. "Is this too much? Should I put on some music or something?"
I hold her hand on its way to the dash. "No," I say. "So, is your brother married?"
"That's our family joke. I was married twice by thirty."

We spend a small fortune. Vendors have been ordered to deliver bolts of fabric, dozens of dresses, endless trinkets in silver and gold and blown glass, and a pile of painted wooden toys Harper chose for the children. Everything she touches, I buy. When we pass a stall offering beer and spirits, we but a round for everyone nearby. The men who scowled at me earlier have disappeared.

Picking up Margo took longer than usual, on account of her inability to leave her newfound circle of friends. I watched them chat away amiably, pleased that she'd found her people.
Once I got her inside the truck, she was full of news about the upcoming spring ballet and the costumes that were planned and how there was a boy at school who'd been particularly attentive lately.

"I'm fine," I repeated. "They're pumping me full of electrolytes, since I went and swallowed a bunch of lake water."
"Lung hurt?"
"A little."
Callum turned until he faced me squarely, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine. I didn't know my lungs could feel like this." I started to laugh, but the space of a painful breath turned it into the beginning of a sob.
And that baby sob felt like my lungs were being torn apart.

I drove out to Charlie's place myself, though Ian had offered to drive. He understood when I explained that I needed a vehicle in case Lila had an emergency. I knew she'd have rolled her eyes at my show of caution, but it seemed practical.
Besides, it would be nice to drive back myself with Dash as copilot.
I left later than intended and hit traffic leaving town.

"Your wife reminded me she's a vegetarian."
He shook his head. "I keep praying for her."
"She says the same thing about you. Do you really smoke tofu for her?"
"When you have a wife, you'll understand. Love makes you do crazy things. And...I like to think of smoked tofu as a gateway to smoked pork belly."
I sucked in a breath. "I could do pork belly around now."
"Couldn't we all."
"Except Betsy."
Roy chuckled.

She's halfway down the street when he catches up to her, reaching out to grab her shoulder. At first she shrugs him off but then comes to a halt. I can't make out what they're saying, but it's then that I understand that Annie isn't just angry. She's scared. It's something about the set of her shoulders, the way her hands are held at her sides, open, as if she's forcing them not to clench into fists.

The next day was the Smiths' day off. They went gaily off in their secondhand car, speaking rhapsodically about what a lovely dinner they were going to cook for us the next day.
"Now, remember," I said darkly, still smarting from my defeat of the night before.
"Oh, Miz Barbara," James B. said, hurt to the quick, "You don't think Lee an' I would let you down, do you?"
"Yes," I said flatly, "I do."

Lots of people who had lived in the Southwest far longer then we had said to us, "But what do you have to do to get so friendly with the Indians?"
"Nothing," was the answer. And it was the only answer. We treated our Indian friends just like any other friends and they accepted us. They were so accustomed to special treatment that they naturally didn't choose to make fast friends with the outsiders.

Fred Narracott say by the engine thinking to himself that this was a queer lot. Not at all his idea of what Mr. Owen's guests were likely to be. He'd expected something altogether more classy. Togged up women and gentlemen in yachting costume and all very rich and important looking.
Not at all like Mr. Elmer Robson's parties. A faint grin came to Fred Narracott's lips as he remembered the millionaire's guests.

"You know how Peter is. He'd be lost without me, yet he takes me for granted." With that, she burst into giggles. "Get it? Lost? He'd be Lost without me."
Given the affection in Belle's voice, Wendy didn't think it was the right moment to ask the Fairy to defy him. She mustered a polite smile. "Well, your apartment is really pretty."
"It's so kind of you to say so. You're lovely company, for a human."

Perhaps you've noticed that it's occasionally challenging for Wendy--and everyone else--to follow Peter's train of thought. It tends to zigzag, taking others off guard, much as it had Wendy. Perhaps you've also noticed a few hints that this story might take an even more troubling turn. But let's move on, shall we?