Brave the Betrayal

K. A. Applegate

To say that I was not exactly in control is like saying that a man hanging by his fingernails from the top floor of the Sears Tower during a hurricane is not exactly in control.


Whoever, whatever this Eshu was, he'd messed with my mind in a powerful way. I felt abused. I felt wronged. But I also felt like I'd won a skirmish in a larger battle. Magic versus Reason, and Reason had won. Maybe I couldn't make all of Everworld bow to the rules I knew to be true but I could take this one guy. 


Christopher flopped on the ground and patted the ground on either side of him. "April, Senna? Room for both of you. I mean, if we're going to die, why not one final good-girl, bad-girl, sweet and bitter, saint and witch three-way? David and Jalil will promise not to look." 


I took the laugh, drew it into me. That could be my own form of prayer, I thought: a scared girl laughing at the night. 


"Why would you refuse the sacrifice?" Thorolf wondered. "Could you not afford a goat or a lamb? Most gods wil  understand if you are unable to afford the animal. They will usually let you trade for a lesser animal,


"Why would you refuse the sacrifice?" Thorolf wondered. "Could you not afford a goat or a lamb? Most gods wil  understand if you are unable to afford the animal. They will usually let you trade for a lesser animal, as long as you promise to make a larger offering later." 


We carried sword and spear and a tiny knife made in a joint venture by the Swiss and a race of aliens from another universe. 


Lateness would be more evidence in Mr. Kuninori's case against me as a lazy, unserious American who wanted to corrupt his daughter with hip-hop, Internet sex, and Saturdays off.