Crosb
t. The ice in my soul had extinguished all pain, lea
nd. Bonita was "asleep," her breathing ev
orner, not in the bed. But he wasn't sleeping. He stared out
eased with a deep-seated agitati
using him this discomfort? I felt a cold sliver of satisfac
s head snapping toward t
heart jumped.
e-so close that my translucent muzzle was inches from his face. I had never been this
s brow, the way his dark lashes cast shadows against his cheekbones. I had spent three years memorizing his face from
. He couldn't feel me. But I could feel him. Or rather, I could feel the absence of him-the wa
ring the air around me in faint ripples. What was I doing? He couldn't see me. He couldn't feel
furrowed. He was sensing something-something he couldn't name. I saw him exhale slowly, as if shaki
-if I still had one-ham
used. He scanned the empty corner of the room, then
e side table and rose to his
hed hi
the duvet more securely around Bonita's sho
's "sleeping" face. He
as fa
"instinctively" rolled over, her hand darting out
sleep, a vulnerable, drea
the small hand clutching his sh
corner of her eye and traced a path down her temple. "I'm so scared... I saw her... in my dream, there
benefiting from-as a tool for manipulation. But sh
y off somewhere causing trouble, just like she always does. That woman doesn't h
brushed against the edge of his mind, and he pushed it down before it could take root. He shook his head, as if trying to dislodge a thought that didn't bel
"Don't think about her. S
overs. "But if she came back... if she hurt you... I couldn
gers from his shirt and tucked her hand back under the duvet. Th
here. That woman will
road back a solid wall between her and the world. He was guarding h
ine it so clearly. Another feigned whimper, another
It was a
night sky. The moon was hidden behind a thick
he core of my being. I would not let this
Crosby, ma
fades into nothing, I
ll make my family pay for their treachery. And I will watch Bonita Salina
anymore. I had to tr
ng on the side table. A fragile thing, no taller than my paw. I concentrated. I
eyes, the way he had said "that woman" like I was nothing. I thought about everything I h
ime, the v
A tiny, almost invisi
things. Not always. Not easily. But I could. The rage ha
could do. But I knew
g conviction, felt more solid, more r
spectator. From now on, I might
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