LOGINAvaThe 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
EvelynAs I reached the landing, I heard him ordering the driver to park my car around back, and in the echo of his voice was the fact: This was his house, now, and I’d just become a visitor in my own life.I walked the hallway toward Ava’s room, and I found her door shut, but not locked.I knocked,
EvelynI didn’t knock. I threw open the door to Thomas’s study so hard it banged the plaster behind, making him jump, making every painting in the hall rattle like teeth in a blender.“You absolute idiot,” I hissed. “What in God’s name possessed you to do that in front of Ava?”He didn’t get up from
SofiaI don’t even remember watching them leave. I just stood by the dorm window, counting the cracks in the glass, the beads of sweat dripping down the back of my shirt, and by the time I focused on the parking lot below, Levi’s car was already gone and so was every noise that mattered.I tried rep
EvelynI took the stairs up to Ava’s room with the tray balanced perfectly, the same way I used to do it when she was a child—one palm on the bottom, the other at the ready in case of catastrophic spill.The hallway outside her door was cold, shadows undisturbed, the air heavy with old wood polish a







