Fallen - By Lauren Kate Page 0,78

"That was before the war. And before the sinkhole. Moving on!"

As they walked, Mr. Cole rattled off fact after fact about the construction of the cemetery, the historical backdrop against which it was built, and the "artist" - even he used the term loosely -

who'd come up with the winged beast sculpture at the top of the monolith in the center of the grounds. Luce's father peppered Mr. Cole with questions while Luce's mom ran her hands over the tops of some of the prettiest headstones, letting out a murmured "Oh my" every time she paused to read an inscription. Penn shuffled after Luce's mother, possibly wishing she'd latched on to a different family for the day. And Luce brought up the rear, considering what might happen if she were to give her parents her own personal tour of the cemetery.

Here's where I served my first detention...

And here's where a falling marble angel nearly decapitated me...

And here's where a reform school boy you'd never approve of took me on the strangest picnic of my fife.

"Cam," Mr. Cole called as he led the tour around the monolith.

Cam was standing with a tall, dark-haired man in a tailored black business suit. Neither of them heard Mr. Cole or saw the party he was leading on the tour. They were talking quietly and gesturing in a very involved manner at the oak tree, the way Luce had seen her drama teacher gesture when the students were blocking a scene in a play.

"Are you and your father late arrivals to our tour?" Mr. Cole asked Cam, this time more loudly.

"You've missed most of it, but there's still an interesting fact or two I'm sure I could impart."

Cam slowly turned his head their way, then back at his companion, who seemed amused. Luce didn't think the man, with his classic tall, dark, and handsome good looks and huge gold watch, looked old enough to be Cam's father. But maybe he had just aged well. Cam's eyes skimmed Luce's bare neck, and he seemed briefly disappointed. She blushed, because she could feel her mother taking in the whole scene and wondering just what was going on.

Cam ignored Mr. Cole and approached Luce's mother, drawing her hand to his lips before anyone could even introduce them. "You must be Luce's older sister," he said rakishly.

To her left, Penn gagged into her elbow and whispered so only Luce could hear, "Please tell me someone else is nauseated."

But Luce's mom seemed somewhat dazzled, in a way that made Luce - and her father, clearly -

uncomfortable.

"No, we can't stay for the tour," Cam announced, winking at Luce and drawing back just as Luce's father approached. "But it was so lovely" - he glanced at each of the three of them, excluding only Penn - "to encounter you here. Let's go, Dad."

"Who was that?" Luce's mother whispered when Cam and his father, or whoever he had been, disappeared back up the side of the cemetery.

"Oh, just one of Luce's admirers," Penn said, trying to lighten the mood and doing exactly the opposite.

"One of?" Luce's father peered down at Penn.

In the late-afternoon light, Luce could see for the first time a few gray whiskers in her dad's beard. She didn't want to spend today's last moments convincing her father not to worry about the boys at her reform school.

"It's nothing, Dad, Penn's kidding."

"We want you to be careful, Lucinda," he said.

Luce thought about what Daniel had suggested - quite strongly - the other day. That maybe she shouldn't be at Sword & Cross at all. And suddenly she wanted so badly to bring it up to her parents, to beg and plead for them to take her far away from here.

But it was that same memory of Daniel that made Luce hold her tongue. The thrilling touch of his skin on hers when she'd pushed him down at the lake, the way his eyes were sometimes the saddest things she knew. It felt at once absolutely crazy and absolutely true that it might be worth all of this hell at Sword & Cross just to spend a little more time with Daniel. Just to see if anything might come of it.

"I hate goodbyes," Luce's mother breathed, interrupting her daughter's thoughts to draw her in for a brisk hug. Luce looked down at her watch and her face fell. She didn't know how the afternoon had gone by so quickly, how it could already be time for them to go.

"You'll call us on