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Back Autumn Bones
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Roc Books by Jacqueline Carey
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight

Gah! In the movies, no one ever has to deal with the logistics of transportation in the aftermath of a fight. They just cut away to the next good scene. “Why don’t you go ahead?” I said. “It’s going to take a while to get Lee patched up. Jen can give me a lift to pick up my car after she drops Bethany off, and Brandon can ride along with us.”

Thankfully, that settled it. Everyone took off on their respective errands, and I plunked down on the couch next to Brandon to watch him play Korengal Valley Mission. I couldn’t help but be uncomfortably aware of his parents in the bedroom nearby, his mother in a state of shock, his father with bruises darkening around his throat. I didn’t have a whole lot of pity for them—I’d known the family for too long, and Mrs. Cassopolis had run into far too many doorways, if you know what I mean—but under the circumstances, it was hard not to feel something for them. After all, I was only human.

Well, half, anyway. I wondered if I’d feel differently if I invoked my birthright, if I’d undergo a complete personality transformation like Bethany.

The thought made me shiver a little. Since her original personality— at least since I’d known her—hadn’t been all that great, it had worked out okay for her, but the thought of losing my human compassion and decency was pretty creepy.

So was the fact that I was even contemplating it, come to think of it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I’d choked . . . again. That made it twice that I’d failed to take out a vampire in mid-throttle. And I wasn’t ready to make the argument that aside from Lee’s broken arm, it had turned out for the best. I mean, sure, I was glad I hadn’t had to kill my best friend’s newly undead sister, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that unleashing patricidal vampire Bethany on the world was a great outcome.

And always in the back of my mind was the awareness that the date of Emmeline Palmer’s return was creeping closer and closer.

I hadn’t lost too much face in our first encounter, but that was due to dumb luck and Jojo the joe-pye weed fairy’s jealousy. The truth is that dear Emmy totally got the drop on me, and I’d panicked.