ya

was a liv

raw welts on my back like a blade drawn sideways. The wind cut through the streets wi

hit me with a laugh that came out broken and st

s-land between Capo domains. I huddled in the corner, wedged between a dumpster and

ar of signal. Twenty missed ca

lue-tinged, fumbled

tupid

dripping with the kind of fury she never showed in public. I co

aped? Your father has men looking for you right now. When we

ffered up the next voicema

Sweetheart. Pl

eningly sweet, dripping with theatrical concern. I could hear the pe

're not thinking clearly. Let us help you. Let us take care of you.

mach h

spat it onto the frozen asphalt. She had beaten me. She had killed my kitten. And now she wa

message. Turne

Hollow eyes. Cracked lips. A bruise spreading across my jaw from w

d for t

g dark with no shoes and a spine that screamed with every step. But I walked anyway. Step. Breathe. St

ding into my soles with every step. Then the numbness set in, and that was worse, because I couldn't feel the

s the sky began to pale. Dawn was coming-gray and watery, l

r eyes. The way they tracked my movements. The way their hands stayed close to their h

ing wa

ned off-pools of harsh yellow illumination scattered across the cobblestones. Students stood in

they ba

rd, her hand rising to her throat. A boy from my mathematics seminar grabbed his friend's arm and pulled, hard.

cupped hands. Eyes wid

ad down. I k

heavy wooden door and found Elena standing over her bed, shoving clothes into duffel bags. Her hands were shaking so badly she kept droppi

le

of all color, and when her eyes met mine, I

e

d of fear you feel when you're trapp

y above a whisper. She held up both hands, palms out

e flinched-a full-body recoi

what's

ed so violently I could see it

he choked out.

moving on their own. I picked up the tablet. The screen

ions network. The logo burned at th

ther'

apo. Every soldier. Every associate. Every student at the Academy

olled

mily doctor who had been on Carlo's payroll for fifteen

and visual hallucinations. Paranoia with persecutory fe

bloody bandages. He'd gotten that wound from a rival gang hit last month-I'd watched the medic stitch h

episode. A kitchen knife. No warning. Sh

sage was pinned

evere breakdown at the family gathering tonight. She fled into the cold, delusional and dangerous. We are terrified for her safety and for

ped br

nymore. The words blurred together, swimming on the screen, and I read them aga

n't jus

à. She had weaponized the Syndicate's code of silence. She had ensured that if I showed anyone my wounds, they would see only a self-harming lunatic. If I screamed the truth, the

en door swung

he weight of the presence filling the doorway, could f

sor. The man who settled disputes between fa

ny

The same voice he used for arbitra

r armed guards. Their hands rested on their holstered weapons. Their eyes scanned my body the

ena, who had pressed herself flat against the far wall, tears

ng on the screen. The truth was locked inside me. And I was beginnin