eamed to ru

Sophia, lifeless,

Not

would be

legs to st

d me, instead of

t a hand,

my voice surprisingly stea

ead cocked, ears perked. He

es narrowed. "Thought yo

d, keeping my gaze on Thunde

o my astonishment, he flopped o

submissi

stroked his chest. His

ok a step forward and aimed a k

utt!" he snarled. "

to his feet, looking at Old

yself slightly betwee

g friendly," I sa

ly don't mean nothing. He

asn't here to giv

e to asser

ut he was weak, always under his father's thumb. After Mark's mother died

e

ing. How I dressed, how I cooked

intensity that made my skin c

used to breaking animal

sliked it when I

hen I'd found out he'd left Sophia, barely six months old, alone i

and somehow pulled he

tor feed from work during my lunc

him, right there on the stre

y, he'd bro

eap

reaching his eyes. "See you around, I

on the porch and wa

ooked at me, then at the dropped chain, then back a

d up th

I said softly. "

d to se

g in her crib

and fell rhythmically. Her rosebud

inhaled the sweet,

palm. Her tiny fingers curled aro

erce it almost buckled m

ot fail h