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Fans of Laini Taylor are going to be in for a treat.
The gift edition ofNight of Cake & Puppetswill hit bookstores Sept. 12.
Credit: Ali Smith
You canpreorder it here.
Excerpt from Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor
HER
1.
This is unsurprising, since its a puppet workshop.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Its a solid cube, and was constructedaround the puppet.
To get the puppet outor let it out, in my grandfathers wordsyoud have to break the glass.
This has been discouraged.
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Its a nasty-looking little bastard, some kind of undead fox thing in cossack garbfur hat, leather boots.
Sharp enough for what?
What do you think?
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I replied with a creepy smile.
It was Christmas Eve.
I admit it freely: we were trying to freak her out.
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The joke was so going to be on us.
Your grandfather didnt make it?
she asked, fascinated, putting her face right up to the glass to see the puppet better.
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He swears not, said Tomas.
Caught it, Karou repeated.
And where do grandfathers catch … undead fox cossacks?
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In Russia, of course.
If Im lying, may a lightning bolt slice me in two!
Newspaper clippings, artifacts, trinkets.
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Proof of that escapade?
Well, aside from the puppet itself, theres the scar tissue furling the knuckles of his left hand.
Because, yeah, thats the story.
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The puppet …bites.
What do you mean, itbites?
When you put your hand in its mouth, I said, cool, it bites.
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Andwhywould you put your hand in its mouth?
Because it doesnt just bite.
I dropped my voice to a whisper.
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It alsotalks, but only if you let it taste your blood.
you’re free to ask it a question, and it will answer.
Any question, said Tomas, also whispering.
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He said, But only one question per person per lifetime, so it better be good.
What did you grandfather ask it?
she wanted to know, and which is exactly what we wanted her to ask.
Let me just put it this way: its in the case for a reason.
The story is elaborate and gruesome.
Her family twisted her from the day she was born.Because what bedtime stories to tell little kids!
That doesnt sound likeclawson the roof, does it, Podivna?
Well, its probably just crows.
And I wouldnt have it any other way.
I shudder to think.
I might wear lace collars and laugh flower petals and pearls.
People might try topatme.
I see them think it.
Anyone with an older brother can tell you: cunning is required.
Their fists are heavier.
Physically, we dont stand a chance.
Hence the evolution of little-sister-brain.
Artful, conniving, pitiless.
I want to terrify little kids too!
I want to torture future generations with the Puppet that Bites.
He asked it how and when he was going to die, I told Karou.
And what did it say?
The puppets a pretty horrible specimen, though, and the storm was loud, the candlelight pale.
The stage was set.
WHEN I KILL YOU!
You two are terrible, she said, and that should have been the end of it.
That was the extent of our prankamateur hour, I see that nowbut … Karou gasped again.
She grabbed my arm.
Did you see that?
I swear it just moved.
Her breathing went shallow, and she was holding my arm really tight, just staring at the puppet.
Tomas and I shared an amused look.
Karou, I said.
It didnt move
It did.
Maybe its trying to tell us something.
Jesus, its probablystarving.
How long has it been in there, anyway?
Dont you guys ever feed it?
And the look Tomas and I shared then was more of the um, what?
variety, because until that moment, Karou had seemed normal enough.
But when she started worrying about the creepy skull puppet beinghungry, you had to wonder.
Karou I started to say.
She cut me off.
It wants to tell us something.
I can feel it.
For a second, nothing happened.
Of course nothing happened.
It was a puppet sitting in a glass case.
No one was touching it.
Without a doubt,no one was touching it.
Karou was clinging to me, Tomas had stepped back from the cabinet, and I knowIdidnt do it.
So when all of a sudden it turned its head and snapped its jaws at us, Iscreamed.
Tomas did too, and so did Karou.
Knowing what I know now, I laud her evil chops for that scream.
Not for a second did it occur to me thatshemight be responsible.
I mean, why would it?
She clearly hadnt touched it.
I dont even remember running.
No, really, it turned its head.
It snapped its jaws!
For this treachery he would pay dearly a couple of days later, but thats another story.
Just not the kind I thought.
The Puppet that Bites is just a puppet, but … Karou is not just a girl.
That was … a shock.
Seeing Kishmish die was a shock.
Nearly useless wishes, that is, since scuppies are the weakest kind.
Im looking at them right now.
Five tiny secret weapons to add a spice of magic to a certain plan Im cooking up.
What plan, you ask?
The plan to finallyfinally,finallymeet violin boy, and sweep him off his feet.
Well, to be honest, Ive been that girl for three months now and Ive had enough.
Whats happened to me?
Invisible lines of energy!
Who is this sack of slush masquerading as me?
I am a rabid fairy.
I am a carnivorous plant.
And violin boys not going to know what hit him.
