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Evidently satisfied that she and Gabriel could make it out of the Dead City on their own, Otis scampered off to investigate the ragged chunks of the ruins inside the Great Wall. He was soon lost to view in the green shadows.

Lucy watched him go, aware of a sense of loss.

“I’m going to miss him,” she said wistfully. “Now that I’m safe he’ll probably disappear.”

“Not if he’s bonded to you,” Gabriel said. “Sometimes dust bunnies form strong connections with humans. One of my cousins, Marlowe Jones, has a dust bunny pal named Gibson. There’s definitely some sort of psychic link between them.”

“One thing I’ve learned is that dust bunnies love hide-and-seek games. Finding me may have been nothing more than a game to Otis.”

“We’ll see.”

The stilettos proved hazardous in her still-unsteady mental state. When she tripped over a quartz pillar that had fallen centuries earlier, Gabriel caught her and scooped her up in his arms again.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

He carried her out of the Dead City and into the ominous yellow fog that blanketed the abandoned buildings of the Colonial-era town. It wasn’t far to the invisible border of the Storm Zone. The paranormal mist thinned out quickly and dissipated altogether when they reached the edge.

Gabriel walked through the last of the fog—and straight into a blaze of blinding camera lights. A horde of journalists and a crowd of onlookers were waiting just outside the Zone.

Lucy groaned. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Gabriel said. He strode through the crowd with Lucy in his arms. “It’ll blow over within twenty-four hours. A one-day story.”

“You can put me down now.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Gabriel set her down carefully on her stilettos.

“Lucy, Lucy, are you okay?”

Lucy looked at the young man running toward her. He was dressedin a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers. He had a rez-bike helmet under one arm.

“Hey, Runner,” she said. “I’m okay.”

“Me and my crew looked everywhere for you in the Dark Zone. Thought you might have gotten disoriented on the way home.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I ended up in the tunnels. Mr. Jones found me, as you can see.”

Runner switched his attention to Gabriel. “Name’s Runner, Mr. Jones. I operate a delivery service over in the Dark Zone. Lucy’s from the neighborhood. She’s a regular customer. Thanks for saving her.”

Gabriel smiled at Lucy. “Anytime.”

A woman called out from the group of onlookers. “Lucy, it’s me, Veronica. Are you all right? We’ve been so worried.”

“I’m okay,” Lucy said. “See you when I get home.”

“Lucy,” a man shouted. “Lucy, darling, your mother and I have been very worried.”

Lucy watched her father make his way through the cluster of journalists and flashing cameras. Heywood Bell was the distinguished and successful CEO of a high-flying corporation. He moved in upper-class circles that were as close to aristocratic as things could get in an officially classless society. Power and authority radiated from him. When he moved through the crowd, everyone automatically stepped aside.

He reached her and pulled her close for a quick hug. “Do you have any idea how scared Deborah and I have been?”

As usual, he implied that his wife had been equally concerned, and as usual, Lucy did not bother to correct him. They both knew the truth. If Deborah Bell cared that her stepdaughter had disappeared, it was only because she was furious about the publicity. Having a member of the Bell family go into the weather channeling business, a career that was only a couple of steps up from the ghost hunter profession, was bad enough. Having that same family member get drunk and lost in the tunnels wasdownright embarrassing. It certainly did not reflect well on the Bell dynasty.

Theoretically, the inheritance laws protected children born out of wedlock financially, but they could not erase the social stigma of illegitimacy. Lucy knew she had been lucky. When her mother had died, her father had insisted on bringing his thirteen-year-old daughter into his home. A lot of kids in her situation ended up in orphanages or foster care.