LOGIN“Grieving.”Ivy blinked. “What does that mean?”“It’s… What I did for your mom.” His throat tightened. “What I did for you for a while, too.”“That doesn’t really make sense.”“It won’t,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. This time, she didn’t flinch away, which came as a relief. “Not until
Kade’s POVKade, Tyler, and the others didn’t return to Nightshade for two days after they left Elena behind.Each step of the way, Kade considered turning back for her. Multiple times, he had considered marching back there and scooping her up into his arms and forcing her to return with him, even k
Eventually, the floor was as clean as it would get given the circumstances. I dumped the muddy-looking water out into the pond, then scrubbed my hands, arms, and face in the sink.Exhaustion took over me by then. I flopped onto the rickety cot without thinking twice and slept.When I woke the next m
Elena’s POVI must have sat in that spot on the porch for hours. Hell, it could have been days, and I might not have even noticed.The passage of time lost all meaning. The sun rose, turning the swamp hot and fetid with the scents of still water and rotting wood. The sun reached its zenith and the f
Kade walked up to her. He didn’t sit. He got the sense that she didn’t want that. Instead, he just let her stare at Ivy. Then down at her hands. Then at Ivy again.“It’s not your fault,” he said after a long moment.Elena didn’t answer. She just blinked, then looked back out over the swamp.Just the
Kade’s POVThe shack was quiet except for Nellie, who was making a small, whimpering sound from her chair. Kade looked at her once, then looked away.Wordlessly, Elena crossed the room and dropped to her knees beside Lana. She gathered her up, both arms pulling her close, and rocked her friend back
Kade jogged over to her, snow seeping into his shoes, and helped her up. She wiped her snotty nose with her mitten and stared after the shrinking car.“Mommy…” she whimpered.“Why do you keep calling her that?” Kade asked, frowning. Ivy had been chattering away about Elena all night, and kept referr
Elena’s POVWhen I reached the top of the stairs, a figure appeared in Kade’s bedroom doorway—Serena.She froze, staring at me for a long, tense moment. She must have known I was coming; although she probably assumed that I would be too much of a coward to show my face.Well, she was wrong.“Hello,
I had been at it for hours, my neck aching from hunching over the book. So far, I had found nothing of note. I was just about to close the book and call it a night when I flipped to the next chapter and read the title.“A Case Study in Neurodegeneration.”Stifling my yawn, I studied the image on the
Elena’s POVThe sun warmed the side of my face, gently waking me from sleep. I cracked my eyes open to find myself laying in my bed, dressed in warm, clean pajamas with my wet hair combed and braided. My body still ached from running nonstop for hours, but the fever had subsided.“You’re awake.” I l







