a's

ive wa

etched along the headrest, close enough that I could feel the heat of him through my damp

was peeling and the yard was a mess of weeds. C

stepping out and stretch

nlocked. My father never locked it when he went out. Nobo

ust and old cigarettes.

a pile of laundry with his boot. "Oh,

" I said. "He won't

wished I could pull it back. I saw something f

"Then we won't

eling their eyes between my shoulder bl

s were gray and thin. No posters, just dents in the plaster where I had hit the wall on nights

ress with his toe. "D

fine,"

tested the bars with one hand. "Nice touch. Did

gun was under it, maybe six feet away. Six feet,

one by one, like a customs officer. He lifted out a fa

said. "No wonder everyone w

uching m

Then, slowly, he turned his head and looked at

that

lease stop touc

sweater on the floor. "Ma

stay uninvited

hat I had to tilt my head back to look at him. The scent of pine needles and cold metal wrapped ar

. His eyes

shaking,

m c

e way he studied everything, like prey h

lt his thumb press against my pulse as if he were checking it. His own jaw tight

said. "Come

m b

ro

s head toward my hair, and I went completely still. H

id, too fast. "She sm

of my wrist and rubbed his palm against his

ck's hand flexing at his side, Slade's gaze fixed on the wall. There was a tension in

g, and that I should be afraid of whatever was about to hap

u really he

to the desk and began flipping through the

leave you alone,"

en

n his life. He didn't ask. He told us. And he looked like he meant it.

I said. "I'

ed up something else from the desk,

mach d

only one I had. A woman with my face laughing at the came

it

's t

it

gers, studying it. "She ran, didn't she? Everyb

remembered that my hand closed around his

it b

ent, no o

strange happened: the sneer slipped. He blinked, as if I had said somethin

nd pressed it a

said softly

murmured. His eye

a car engi

ee of u

ce. My father. It had to be my father, early, and he would find two Black Star hei

A door slammed.

he road, and the sound faded. A neig

't know I'd been holding.

thout the usual edge. He was watching

atic. It was the only answ

It was the strangest thing: they didn't

t the mattress. "You look li

ather

ther yo

s supposed to do. I sat on the edge of the mattress, the photograph in my lap, the pillow

chair. Brock stayed standing, leanin

until midnigh

hy

" His smile was thin. "And y

like cruelty either. It sounded like a boy who

de added, quiet. "S

ake orders

linted. "Then wh

ck on the wall, the ancient one with

een m

Nineteen minutes until I either shifted or was

nstinct I had said run. Every instinct also said something else, something worse,

ng with the air,

e," Brock said

ot the

d at me. Neither of t

. The old house creaked. A pipe knocked somewhere in the wall. At eleven fifty-eight, the scent

s went compl

is head. "Do y

He stood up so fast the chai

n't k

n the hallw

first time all day, I saw fear in their f

grandfather cloc