The air is cold. My breath fogs against the black sky. When I sink to my knees, the frozen ground pushes back. It’s the first time I’ve stopped moving in… s**t, days, maybe. Weeks. My restless joints want to riot, but I sink down in the crunchy grass.
“Viviana was right,” I mutter. “I’ve been away too much.”
There is no response. It used to be my favorite thing about this place. As bleak as it was to come here, I could say what I thought—what I felt—without any judgment.
Now, there are so many things I’d like to ask Alyona. I want to hear what she’d say.
I study the weather-rounded edges of her tombstone. “I wasn’t there for you at the end. I couldn’t save you. But before that… did you feel alone?”
I startle for half a second before I recognize the deep voice. I clench my teeth withou
