l Sto

separating me from my father's fury. The air tasted of sta

fyingly calm register that was far worse than his shouting. He unholstere

a dangerous prayer. If I spoke it, if I admitted that the seed growing inside me belonged to the Do

at the pulse jumping in

dry leaves. She walked over to Elroy, placing a hand on his shoulder, her touch possessive. "Look at h

"Imagine the shame when the other families find out

e. He rounded the desk in two strides and grabbed my face,

ath hot and sour on my face. "Di

yes burning but dry.

mbled, catching myself on the edge of a bookshelf. "You want

cellar. The old wine storage. No one speaks to her. No one fee

rted, feigning concern, thou

of my sight

ok back at my father. I looked at Janiyah. She was watching me go, her fingers tracing the p

grave without t

allet in the corner that smelled of mildew and despair. Time lost its meaning in the suffocating

ch. *I'm sorry,* I whispered in

t only a crack. A slice of yellow light cut through th

terrible

h the gap, sweet and poisonous

. "I'm wearing the emerald velvet. Everyone will be asking where you are. I suppo

h," I rasped, my th

ing in your house, sleeping in your father's bed, and spending your inheritance

hut, plunging me b

er, the lock

stenance. But the door swung wide, and two men dragged a limp form int

of the guards grunted before

floor on my hands and

In the dim light filtering from th

scream tore

hut completely by a purple hematoma. Her lip was split, and

zed, blood bubbling at

nto my lap, tears finally spilling over,

I tried to call my cousin in Jersey. To get

The only person in this house who had ever sho

Arlene. I'

nd reaching up to wipe my cheek with trembling

that had paralyzed me since the hotel room in Chicago evaporated. In its pla

They thought they could break me by hurting the pe

were

er child, and I was a woman with a debt of blood to collect. Jan