CHAPTER 11SELENA POVI tried to sleep. I turned the lamp off, pulled the quilt up to my chin, and lay there cataloguing every sound the house made: the radiator ticking, a cousin's laugh floating up the stairwell and getting shushed, a pipe somewhere in the walls clearing its throat like it had something to say. Across the hall, a thin gold line of light still sat under his door. I watched it for what felt like an hour, and it never changed, no shadow crossing it, no footsteps, just a steady stripe on the floorboards like someone had painted it there to dare me.At some point I realized I was holding the note from Grandpa in my fist again. *You're going to need it this week.* I put it on the nightstand, pulled my hair out of its ponytail, and told myself very firmly that I was going to lie still until morning. Then I got up, because apparently my body had stopped consulting me about decisions sometime around Monday.The floor was freezing against my bare feet. I crossed the hallway i
Last Updated : 2026-10-02
