Thirty people. Silent. Jade's smile sharp enough to draw blood. The room holding its breath like a collective lung waiting to exhale.
I felt Rhys before I saw him. Not a sound – a shift. The particular change in gravity that happened when he entered my awareness, like the room reoriented itself around him. I found him across the room. Leaning against the wall near the door with a plastic cup of wine he wasn't drinking, watching me with an expression that wasn't protective or worried or ready to intervene.
It was trust. Pure, uncut trust. Whatever you say next, I'm with you.
I looked back at Jade. My cousin. The girl I'd shared bunk beds with at summer camp and traded lip gloss with at thirteen and watched become someone whose kindness had an invoice attached. She was standing there expe
