Se connecterAvaThe first thing I heard was a low, tired voice, reading words I couldn't quite catch yet. My body felt heavy under the sheets, pinning me to the bed. I could hear the steady rasp of my own breathing. My open eyes blinked dryly in the dim light.I opened my eyes wider. A small, pale room with a c
AvaDad let go of the shackle and sat back, his face relaxing from the concentration. He was quiet for a long moment. Then his eyes met mine."Baby," he said gently, "do you want to know what happened?"Something in his tone made my chest tighten. I had a feeling that this was a truth I wasn't ready
AvaHe stepped out of the blackness, edging closer, until I could finally see him. Unbelievable. He was so young, the age he was when...when he died. His warm brown eyes, both of them, looked at me with a fond smile.I stared, my mouth hanging open, unable to make a sound. My dad. Standing in front
LeviI settled into the chair by her bed and took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of it. "Hey, Ava. It's Levi," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I just talked to Sofia. We had some things to say to each other."I sat there, rubbing her hand, trying to find the words Maya and
LeviI sat with my father in his room, a week after Hilda's funeral. Some families had already packed up and left the pack after becoming human. Others had stayed, unsure of where else to go.My father wheezed beside me, the hiss of his oxygen tank an ever-present sound now. He was thinner, frail, h
MayaI zipped Sofia's dress as best I could with my good hand. The collar was tricky. I fiddled clumsily with the small metal fastening. "There, perfect," I said, releasing the dress and stepping back.Sofia blinked hard at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun. The dr
Sofia.I spent the hours after midnight working the greenhouse like a last-call bartender: running on empty, still pouring. Most of the guests had thinned out by then, but the stragglers were the worst kind—the ones who’d paid for the privilege of pretending they were too important to leave on time.
SofiaI lay on my back, naked under the sheets, eyes locked on the ceiling where the water stains had spread out like continents. I counted them—one, two, three, the shape near the sprinkler looked vaguely like South America—because if I stopped counting I’d have to think about what just happened.A
AvaI was on my back, staring up at a ceiling so clean it might have been fake. It was painted a matte off-white, no crown molding, just a plane of color that seemed to go on forever. The air smelled like lemon and ozone and the faint trace of burnt wax. My head thudded, but at least I could breathe
AvaWe docked just before sunrise, a sliver of light breaking over the edge of what I could only describe as a villain’s idea of a beach house. I’d never been to Catalina, didn’t know it existed till now, but this wasn’t the part with the cheesy boardwalks and ferry traffic. The boat pulled into a t







