The Name“Marcus,” he says.The mug tilts. I catch it. Barely.Marcus.My brother.Not biological—we never shared blood, only a foster home, three years of narrow bunk beds and shared cereal and the specific loyalty of two kids who decided to be family because no one else was doing it. Marcus, who called me every Sunday. Marcus, who came to my med school graduation with a hand-painted sign that said my sister the doctor in letters that bled in the rain because he made it the morning of. Marcus, who knew exactly which path I walked at night in that town because I told him, because I told him everything, because he was the one person I called when things got hard.Marcus, who knew Dante’s schedule too, because I mentioned it, because I was lonely and he was my person and I talked.I set the mug down.“You’re sure,” I say.“I remember a phone call,” Dante says. He’s watching me with the careful attention he gives things that matter. “Before. Before the forest. A man on the phone with Ver
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