RIKA
I hadn't slept properly in six weeks.
Not the kind of sleep that actually rests you. The kind where you close your eyes, your brain keeps moving, you wake up more tired than when you lay down, and you do it all over again the next night. I was running on coffee, pack business, and the specific misery of watching someone you love disappear into grief while you hold a secret that could change everything.
I was standing outside Sloane's door again. Third time this morning. I didn't knock. I just stood there in my black joggers and a Ghost Riders crewneck, hair unbrushed, listening through the wood for any sound that told me she was okay.
Nothing. Just silence.
"She ate half the plate last night," Vera said quietly behind me.
I turned. She was at the end of the corridor holding an e
