STEP BROTHER DEAREST
Chapter 40
The chalk words glared at us from the wall, stark in the dim light:
**“Hesitation is the labyrinth.”**
Madison’s breathing was sharp, ragged, though her eyes stayed fixed and cold. She crouched, fingers grazing the fallen notebook, but she didn’t pick it up. As though touching it might confirm something she refused to believe.
My chest was hollow. Ian’s cry still echoed in my skull — raw, cut short, unfinished. I wanted to call out, to scream his name, but the silence pressed against my throat like a hand.