Before the fall: arrival (Embassy row # 0.5) (2 page)

“Who was that on the phone?” I ask again, but the man just glares at me.

“I thought you wanted to go.”

What I want is a sandwich. I want a bathroom. I want to crawl into the nearest bed and sleep until my father comes back from wherever the United States Army has sent him. I want my brother to already be finished at West Point. But, most of all, I want to be the kind of person nobody looks at in the way this man is looking at me now.

I want to be okay.

But I will settle for simply being anywhere but here.

I take my things and start toward the door, but just as my hand touches the knob, the man calls to me.

“You be good out there, Grace Olivia Blakely.” For a moment, I stop and look back. “Diplomatic immunity might keep you out of jail, but it won’t keep you out of trouble.”

“Oh.”

I smile.

“I wouldn’t dream of getting into any trouble.”

I lie.

And then I walk through the airport and out to the car that is waiting for me, two small US flags flying on either side of the hood. When the driver opens the door, I step inside and lean back against the cool, black leather. When the car pulls away, I keep my eyes glued to the horizon, the wall, and the sea.

I should close my eyes, I know. I should rest. But instead I stare out the window, looking for dragons.

The story has just begun.

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All Fall Down (Embassy Row #1)

Ally Carter

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ALLY CARTER
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series. Her books have been published all over the world, in over twenty languages. She grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and has never caused an international incident (to her knowledge). You can visit her online at www.allycarter.com.

Copyright © 2015 by Ally Carter

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This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

e-ISBN 978-0-545-87263-8

First edition, February 2015

Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll