the human world, as the human you have learned to be. Untouched by the grit and ugliness of this place. Untouched by my wrath.
An earthquake roared beneath him and Asa steadied himself against the sink.
Well? She said.
“What do You want?” Asa said. “I know now You’d never offer something like that for free.”
All I want is for you to leave, Death said. Leave now and let all thoughts of this little rebellion, this little war fall behind you. You realize how much of a long shot it is, right? How little of a chance you have? Do not use the magic inherent in your form to power those… machines! It isn’t worth it. Not compared to a real human life.
An image rose in his mind. Asa saw himself—his human self, around twenty-five years old—walking the streets of Paris. He saw himself sailing on a boat, out over the rich blue Mediterranean, drinking champagne at a party on New Year’s Eve, being kissed by a woman whose eyes sparkled like blue diamonds. He saw himself aging, becoming middle-aged, then old. He saw his hair whitening. He saw himself reading a story to dark-haired children who could only be his grandchildren. The Velveteen Rabbit, he read on the cover.
A beautiful dream. A beautiful life. It was everything that Asa had ever wanted, everything he’d ever dared to dream of, and when he reached up to touch his daemon face, he felt human tears on his claws.
But he thought of Olivia. And Rosa. And Sal. And Susanah and Mowse and Judith and Cassandra and Zo. He thought of the people of Elysium with their dust masks and their sunken cheeks and muddy lungs.
“I can’t trade their lives for one I was never meant to have,” Asa said, a note of iron in his voice that surprised even himself.
So you mean to declare war on Me, eh? Death said. His mind spasmed painfully with Her laughter. Then war you will have. Farewell, little daemon. See you on the battlefield.
And Death trickled out of his mind, leaving Asa gasping against the sink, a fire in his brain. But he was more sure than he had ever been before. If She wanted a war, then She was going to get one. And if She was offering him a way out, that could only mean one thing.
They could win.
CHAPTER 23
6 DAYS
REMAIN.
I sat in my room all through dinner, feigning a stomachache. Why didn’t Lucy come see me? I kept asking myself. What did I do to upset her? Surely she didn’t blame me for the Sacrifice building burning down. What had happened while I was away? I lay down on the creaky old bed, looking up at the ceiling.
“I told you!” Mowse’s voice said in the hallway. “The teacher let us out early!”
“Because you used your mind control on her!” Susanah was saying. “I’ve told you about that stuff, Mowse! You can’t just do that to people. You’re in big trouble!”
“Only if you can prove it!” Mowse said. There was a sound of running and a slam of the upstairs bathroom, then the click of the door locking.
“Ugh,” Susanah was saying to herself. “This school’s a bad influence on her. So what if she learned all forty-eight states in a day?” She knocked on my door. “Sal? I brought you a plate of greens.”
“Thanks, Susanah, I’ll get it later,” I said. She paused in front of the door as though she was going to say something; then I heard her footfalls disappear down the hall. I toyed with the penny on my chest. Then I sat upright. If Lucy wouldn’t come find me, I would go and find her.
I went out onto the porch, looking out into Elysium for a moment, into the dusty streets and dusty roofs and dusty shacks. I took a deep breath and took my penny into my hand.
“Here goes nothing,” I said.
I closed my eyes and thought of Lucy, of her bright dresses and kerchiefs, of her smile, and her voice, fierce and feminine still, even in the grit of Elysium. Slowly, the penny in my hand began to glow, and pulled straight outward, hesitantly, pointing into the rows of clapboard houses on the west side. I began following it, following its pulling, jerking movements through the winding footpaths between the houses, my heartbeat rising to match pace with my footfalls. Some people closed their windows as I walked by; others stared, but I kept moving. I walked by a porch where