8
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Rising AngerTHE BIG DOOR SHUT A FRACTION OF SECOND after the guards had launched Sabian out of the main entrance. The man rolled down the stairs, protecting his head.
Lupianne ran to help him get up.
“Are you OK?”
“Yes. Good of you to get my pack.”
“Uh-oh!” Blanche whispered.
Lupianne swiveled on her heels. Their father was walking towards them, his expression inscrutable, one hand clenched on a small tool. We’re in for a mega-punishment, Lupianne thought.
But Romain planted himself facing Sabian. He brandished the tool he was gripping, a familiar rod ending with a bulb.
“Does this belong to you?” he said, in a low rumbling voice.
Sabian blinked at the object.
“Why, yes,” he said. “It is one of my magnetic brushes. I must have lost it in the ruins.”
“I found it o
