I barely ate my dinner. I picked at a roll and sipped a little wine, but other than that, my plate sat untouched. Now, my stomach growls as I stand face to face with Sebastian in the foyer. He regards me with such intensity it’s hard to look back at him. Does he look at everyone this way? Or is this just the effect of his pale blue vampire eyes? He holds a black blindfold in his hands.

“I thought we were going to trust one another?” I keep my tone soft and pleasant.

He holds it up and covers my eyes, his fingers brushing against my temples. I shy away, my shoulders rounding. Though he pauses a moment, he returns to his task without apology. He ties the knot at the back of my head tightly enough to stop it from slipping and loose enough not to give me a headache. I doubt he’s skilled in treating others gently, so I appreciate the effort.

“Since your goal in life is supposed to involve killing vampires like myself, I have to take certain precautions. I’m taking you to see your sister, but I need to be sure you can’t just wander around and find her on your own. I need her to keep you honest.”

“Really? We’re going to see her?” I can’t hide my excitement. Wait until she finds out that I’m a reaper! And a witch! I’ve always dreamed about jumping into books and living through the characters and now I find out my real life might be just as fantastical!

He releases his hand from the knot at the back of my head, and his palms slide down the sides of my hair, his thumbs lightly moving along my cheeks. It feels intimate and makes me uncomfortable. Behind the cloth blindfold, I can’t read his expression, and it makes me feel even more vulnerable. I hunch my shoulders and step back. I don’t like the dark, and I hate it more when a vampire is in front of me, and I can’t see what he’s doing.

He chuckles lightly.

“Please take it off. I’ve given you my word. I swear I’ll keep it. What better way for us to prove our trust to each other? You want a test? Let me prove I can be trusted.”

Something creaks behind me, and I spin around, my heart rate racing, my breathing accelerating.

“You’re afraid?” he says quietly.

“Yes.” I don’t care if he knows it. Always the dark—it’s my greatest weakness, and I don’t like it, not even if it’s simulated.

He heaves a sigh, and the floorboards creak in front of me as I feel him close the distance between us. I uncurl my fingers and put my hands up, feeling for him until my fingertips reach the hard lines of his chest. His cotton T-shirt is baby soft under my fingers. “What are you doing?” I startle as he takes a step closer and feel his arms on either side of my neck.

His breath ruffles the fine hairs around my face. “Relax,” he says softly. His arms brush over my hair as his hands find their way back to the knot. The blindfold falls down from my eyes to collect around my neck.

As I reach up to grip the black cloth, he backs away from me. When we’re a few feet apart, he turns and continues to the oversized wooden front door. He unlocks and leaves it open after he walks through it, leaving me to watch him, dumbfounded.

What just happened? He had a plan, and he seemed committed for a total of maybe five seconds. Did he decide against it because of my trust argument or because I was frightened? He doesn’t strike me as a guy who bends easily. I have no idea how to respond to him. He surprised me—in a good way. I can’t say men do that to me very often. People are often exactly what they seem. And yet, with Sebastian, I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface.

“Change your mind?” he calls to me from the outside.

I hurry to follow him. Outside, I finally get a view of the mansion, and I stare up at it in amazement at stone walls, a tin roof, and a single circular column on the end like a castle. It’s three stories tall.

“Wow.” I stumble on the stairs because I can’t look away.

“It’s a bitch to heat.”

“Aren’t you…cold blooded?”

“Like a snake,” he says with a hiss. He smirks at me as he opens the passenger door of an expensive black SUV. “But we have to keep the servants warm.” He winks at me as I climb inside. By the time I have my belt buckled, he has dashed to the other side of the car, climbed in, and started the car.

No matter how many times I see vampires move with purpose, their graceful speed is no less impressive. We pull away, heading down the long driveway flanked with overhanging trees filled with pink and white buds. I watch him from the corner of my eye, the darkness lit only by the red, blue, and white lights of the dash. He refuses to look my way, and we drive in silence for another ten minutes, down a narrow road—no buildings or stores, nothing but trees.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” I say. If he catches the reference, he doesn’t comment. He leans over my body and brushes his hand against my knee. I startle. The hairs on my entire body stand on end, and tingles consume me. He presses a button on the glove compartment and removes a phone—my phone. He hands it to me. I stare at it, shocked yet again.

“We’re on Birch Island.”

“Birch Island?” I say with a gasp. We’re hours from home. “Why would you bring me here? I mean, besides the obvious.” They live here. “Why couldn’t you just tell me what you wanted at my house?”

“After you rattled my head with a frying pain, I assumed it was no longer an option. I had planned on telling you the truth and asking you to come willingly. All of this could have been avoided.”

I call bullshit. He trusts me about as much as I trust him, and there is no way he would have spilled his guts to me before finding out what I am and what I could do. “When a vampire shows up in your home after you watched one kill an innocent girl before another one vomited blood in your general direction, a girl has to keep her guard up. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose you have a point.” He points to the phone. “Once you see her, you may call her whenever you like.”

I hold the phone tighter in my hands and clasp it to my chest. “Thank you, Sebastian.”

He clears his throat and shrugs.

“This man you want me to kill, you said he’s Alexander’s master. Is he yours too?”

“No.”

When he doesn’t elaborate, I feel the need to continue. I need to know why. If his motives are strong enough, it will help me determine just how committed he is to this and to keeping his word. Sure, he seems agreeable now—but what about after the vampire is dead? If I’m able to kill an elder, why wouldn’t he assume I could and would kill him and his brother?

“What does it mean to have a master?”

He considers before answering. “Because it takes vampire blood to make one, made vampires will always have their master’s blood inside of them. It gives them an almost…mental connection to their children. It also means they are able to influence their actions. It takes an enormous amount of strength to go against one’s master’s wishes. You feel a desire to please them and obey them, whether or not what they want is good for you.”

“That’s why you want him dead? So Alexander can have his free will back?”

He nods solemnly.

“If this elder isn’t your master, do you want me to kill yours too?”

“No.”

“Why? Don’t you want to be free?”

He glances at me briefly but doesn’t answer. I don’t push it. I don’t need to push for another vampire to kill. One will be hard enough.

“Is there no way to break your…connection to a master? I mean, other than killing them?”

“No. It’s forever. Some masters don’t force their will on others, but that isn’t the case with the one we’re asking you to kill.”

“Is freeing your brother the only reason you want this vampire dead?”

He turns down a dirt road, and the car rocks back and forth as we pass over both subtle and deep potholes. I reach up and hold onto the handle above the door to steady myself.

“My reasons are my own.”

His tone is firm and unyielding, and I instinctively know no amount of questioning will get him to answer. Though I want more, I let it go—for now.

“Does your master make you do things you don’t want to do?”

He frowns at me. His eyes are almost shimmery in the semi-darkness. “You ask a lot of questions.”

“The more answers I have, the easier it will be for me to do my job.”

He scoffs at me and lets out a low chuckle. “Agreed. But only if you ask the right questions.”

“What are the right questions?”

He sighs in frustration though the curl of his lips suggests another emotion entirely.

We approach a wide metal structure with a door. It angles at the back as if it descends into the ground. Behind it lies a dense forest of tall evergreens. He pulls to a stop in front of the door and gets out. I unbuckle my seatbelt but sit another moment, suspiciously eyeing the door. Then I take a breath and follow him. In the distance, loons call, and there is the quiet rush and trickle of a nearby stream. I can almost smell the fresh water as it clings to the moist air.

The door is chained closed with a rusty padlock bigger than my fist. He unlocks it and lets the chain hang while he opens it up. A small light by the door automatically flickers on, and a narrow corridor fans out in front of us though it bleeds into darkness as the tunnel continues. I bite my lip.

“There are more lights inside. They’re on sensors.”

I shrug my shoulders, not willing to admit to my fear, though I’m not fooling anyone, least of all, him. He stakes a step over the lip below the door, and I do, too. Once inside, he latches the door and padlocks it shut. A shiver overcomes me. I don’t like this place, and I don’t like being locked in here with a vampire, but if this leads me to my sister, I’ll follow him to the center of the Earth.

“What is this place?” I glance at the cobwebs on the ceiling.

“It was a mine at one point. It’s been converted into a sort of…bomb shelter.”

“Even vampires can’t survive a nuclear holocaust?”

He grins. “I’m not sure. Never been through one.”

After a half mile of walking with nothing around us but concrete, we reach another door, and this one opens with a lever. I wait for him to open it, but instead, he rests a hand on my shoulder, and I glare up at him.

“When we get inside, don’t go spilling your guts to your sister. The vampire inside will hear everything. Although he’s in Alexander’s bloodline, we need to limit what he knows. The fewer people who know about you, the better, understood?”

I give him a stiff nod. “Trusting fewer vampires isn’t going to be a problem for me.”

His hand is still on my shoulder. I shrug it off.

He opens the door, and I step over the lip at the bottom to go inside. The inside of the bunker is much better than I’d imagined. It’s set up like a cabin or a small house with a kitchenette, a sofa and a chair, and a television and bed. No coffin. There are three doors, one on each wall, two regular wooden ones and another one made of solid metal with a small, circular peephole. The second I spy that door, I know Kara is behind it, and I can’t get to her fast enough. I sprint across the open space, but a few feet before I reach it, a man walks out of the door to the right of the room. He races over to me, moving so fast he’s a blur, and I don’t see his clear image until he stands in front of me to block my path. I slam into him, unable to stop quickly or weave around him. As I bounce back and fall on my ass, Sebastian materializes in front of me and grips the man by the throat before hurling him through the air to smash into the concrete wall on the other side of the room. Air whooshes from his lungs as he falls to the floor. He shakes off the collision and backflips to his feet before crouching. He scowls at me as a bleeding wound on the side of his head seals while I watch with my mouth agape.

“That’s enough, Michael. She’s a friend.”

“She’s the spitting image of the she-devil.”

I glance at Sebastian.

“He means your sister.”

I frown at both of them. She-devil? My sister?

Sebastian tries hard to hide his amusement as he says to the other vampire, “This one is nice.”

“I find that very hard to believe, mate.”

I brush the dust off my pants and push myself up from the floor. After heaving a deep breath and rubbing my sore ass, I hold out my hand to the vampire. “I’m Emily.”

He stares at my hand as he straightens and saunters over to us. When he’s within reach, he still refuses my hand. “She your blood?” He nods to the metal door. “That nasty piece of work in there?”

“That’s not very nice. She’s really sweet.”

“That’s shite. She’s the devil incarnate.”

“May I see her?” I need to be sure it’s really her. Whoever this vampire is describing doesn’t sound a bit like my sister.

Sebastian nods to his friend. The guy tosses him the keys. “I’m going out for a bite. I’ll be back in a few. Try not to get yourself killed,” Michael says.

“I’ll try my best.” Sebastian fights a grin.

He leaves through the circular door while I rush to my sister. “Hurry!” I demand, and Sebastian is at my side, unlocking the door in record time. But he holds his hand on the door and captures my attention before swinging it open. “Give her some warning. She’ll likely spring at you the second the door is open. She tried to gouge Michael’s eyes out with a nail earlier. If I didn’t see the test results from your blood work, I would have put money on her being the hunter, not you.”

“Because I’m so docile?”

“Exactly.”

I try not to dwell on his words, but they sting me a little. I’m glad my sister is a fighter, and I admire her for it. But I can fight, too. I proved it when I hit Sebastian with the frying pan. I don’t roll over and play dead, and I can rise to the occasion when I need to. I want to be a hunter—minus the killing part. I want to be magical and feared. I want to be the kind of girl people write stories about instead of the girl who only reads them.

“Open the door, please.”

“As soon as you announce yourself.”

I roll my eyes at him. “This is ridiculous.”

I stretch up on my tiptoes and peer in the peephole. An eye stares back at me, unblinking, and I startle, leaning away quickly. She’s right on the other side of the door.

“Is that you, Emily?” Kara asks.

“Yes! I’m coming in. Don’t hurt me!”

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” she says with a growl.

“Ask me something only I’d know.”

Her brown eye shrinks as she backs away, and her whole face comes into focus. Relief washes through me. I can tell she’s not harmed—or at least, not badly—and seeing her flawless face relaxes me.

“What was the name of the dog Mom and Dad bought after you came to live with us?”

“Dog,” I say quickly.

“Original,” Sebastian says.

“Don’t judge me.”

Kara backs away a little more. “Oh, my God, Emily! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine. I’m opening the door.”

I step away, and Sebastian unlatches it and opens the door a fraction before backing way. “Afraid of a woman?” I ask sweetly.

He laughs as I pull the door open wide and stand in the frame. Kara sighs and smiles when she sees me before lunging forward and wrapping her arms around me. It feels so good to see her and hold her.

“I love a good family reunion,” Sebastian says.

Enjoying the embrace, I open my eyes and turn my head on Kara’s shoulder to watch him mock us, his eyes alight. Kara pushes me aside and stands in front of me. Her head jerks to the right, and I follow her gaze to a dirty plate on a table and some silverware.

Sebastian tuts at her. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Oh,” she says mockingly, “And I really give a shit what you think.”

She makes for the knife, but by the time she takes the three quick steps to the table, a gust of wind rolls past me, fanning my hair out and off to the side. Kara slams her fist onto the table, and getting creative, she takes the plate and smashes it on the corner. She holds up the jagged edge and faces Sebastian, who now sits on the chair not far from the entrance, his hands on the arms and the knife in his tightened right fist.

“Please tell your sister I’m not her enemy.”

Kara laughs as she glances at me, but her face falls when she’s sees I’m not participating in the joke.

“Can you give us a minute?” I ask him quietly.

Sebastian nods but doesn’t move.

“Alone.”

“Of course.” His voice is melodic and syrupy sweet. He leaves the small room and leans against the wall in the far corner of the other room. His eyes never leave me, and I know his ears won’t either. He’ll be able to hear every single word we say. But Kara doesn’t have to know that, if she doesn’t already.

“What’s going on, Em?”

I guide her to the narrow bed, and as I lower myself to sit down I gently pull her down to sit beside me. The springs underneath us creak, and the bed bows. The mattress is so thin, the metal springs poke into the backs of my thighs. This is not at all like the four-poster bed they put me in. The thought makes my stomach turn with guilt.

“You’re right. They took us from our home, and that’s unforgivable. But there’s more to it than that.”

“Emily, are you defending them?” Her face scrunches up as she leans away from me.

“No, I’m not. I swear I’m not.”

“Are they controlling you? Are you one of them?” She reaches up to feel my cheeks and forehead before staring me dead in the eye.

“I’m not a vampire, but I’m not who I thought I was either.”

Part of me is excited to discover I’m not like everyone else. I never stood out in school. I practically blended in with my high school’s furniture. Sure, I did well in track, but that never made me popular with the girls or wanted by the guys. I was just kind of there. Even as an adult, I get up, go to work, come home, and hang out pretty much with just my sister. My life is about to change, and I’m curious to see where it takes me. I also can’t deny I’m scared as hell. Being a vampire hunter will make me a target for some pretty powerful people—albeit undead people—and I’m not strong enough to take them on. I have more enemies than I can imagine, and that means she does too. Kara is the only person I want to tell about my unique blood, and I have no idea how she’ll respond. She’s always protected and loved me. My big sister, always. But what will happen when I tell her I’m more than human? That I’m supernatural? I know in my heart, she’ll still love me, but what if she doesn’t? What if she puts me in the same category as the vampires? A monster. A freak.

“I…” But I have to tell her. I can’t stop myself.

She squeezes my hand and slides in closer. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

I fight a nervous smile, and my heart races. “They brought me here to test my blood because of the monster I saw outside the bookstore last night. It was one of them.” I chin nod toward Sebastian.

She tips her head and shakes it. When she looks back up at me, her face softens, and her eyes crinkle about the corners like Mom’s. Looking at her now makes me miss Mom as much as I did after she first died. I clear my throat, feeling mighty choked up.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you when you thought you saw something outside the bookstore. I never imagined things like this existed. I just thought you were overwhelmed. Mom and Dad’s death was so hard on you, and I know you’re still hurting. Even now.”

But so is she. I squeeze her hand to comfort the both of us.

My lower lip trembles, but I bite it and then release before taking a breath. “I never told you everything that happened last night. One of them bit me and…they died. The vampires here thought it meant I was something called a blood hunter. They took me to test my blood to be sure that’s what I am. They took you…to make sure I cooperate. But then, they also thought you could be like me.”

Kara is silent for a moment that feels like forever.

“What are you thinking?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“I’m a reaper, Kara, a witch who hunts vampires.” I bite my lip while I gauge her reaction. But she’s expressionless, like a blank page waiting for words. “Like Van Helsing. Or Buffy, or Blade...only I’m a witch too.”

Kara blows air through pursed lips, and pushes off the bed, and paces.

“I know this is a lot but think about how...exciting this could be. Some might consider this a gift. I have a purpose in life now.”

“And what is that?”

I clear my throat and keep my voice low because I expect her response. “To kill vampires who don’t respect human life.” Even as I say it, it seems crazy and foolish—me, a gifted witch with toxic blood and a life mission to kill supernaturals? I might as well tell her I’m Bigfoot. I want to believe in myself, but it’s farfetched, especially for someone as little as me who would never hunt an animal let alone a human—or former human.

“Are you insane!” She looks at Sebastian, who whistles while glancing around the room. I have to roll my eyes at him. We both know he can hear us. She lowers her voice, and I don’t have the heart to tell her there’s not point to it. She approaches me and crouches down so we’re at eye level. “Emily, I know you’ve always wanted to believe you’re different because your parents gave you up, and you are special in so many ways. Their loss has been Mom’s and Dad’s and my biggest gain. I can’t imagine a life without you. But I’ve known you my whole life, and you’re not supernatural. You have to know that, right? Deep down. You don’t need to accept whatever bullshit they’re selling you for you to feel like you matter.”

I breathe out through pursed lips and feel choked up all over again, but for a very different reason this time. I know I mattered to Mom and Dad and that I still matter to her, but hearing her saying this out loud tamps down the worst of my insecurities. And it reassures me that if I am a blood hunter, she’ll still love me regardless—even if she doesn’t believe it’s true. Yet. Hell, I still need some convincing.

“I’m so sorry they took you.”

“Don’t apologize. They did this, not you.” Kara exhales loudly. “Did they tell you what they want?”

“Apparently, the witch blood in me is really strong. They want me to help them…” I could tell her they want me to kill an elder vampire, but I don’t. She doesn’t need to know this. It’s dangerous, and the less she knows about it, the better. I don’t want her to worry.

“This is a lot to process.” She glances away and pushes herself up off the bed.

“Please tell me what you’re thinking. I’m still the same person. I’m still your sister.”

She raises an eyebrow and stops pacing. “Of course you are. Why would you think that would matter to me?”

I hitch a shoulder and look at the floor. She cups my chin and forces me to meet her eyes. “We’re all we have. I would never abandon you, and I can’t believe you’d think I would.”

“I know…I know.” I pull her into a hug and grip her tighter than before. The breath I’m holding escapes my parted lips. Over her shoulder, I meet Sebastian’s thoughtful eyes. For the first time since I met him, he looks away first.

Kara leans back and cups my cheek, forcing me to face her. “Don’t believe anything they say. They’re monsters and liars. You’re exactly who I think you are.”

But what if I don’t want to be boring old Emily anymore?

“They also told me that when they looked into my history, they found my birth certificate, and it had Mom and Dad’s names on it. That’s impossible right? I mean, I’ve never seen it before, but it can’t be right.”

Something in the way she shifts her eyes and then focuses on me while smiling tightly gives me pause. “I have no idea what they’re talking about. See? Liars. Don’t believe them. Your blood is normal. Now…” She bends forward and moves her arms around my neck. With her ears inches from my ear, she whispers, “When you get the chance, you run. And don’t stop. You hear me?”

“Kara…”

She grips my shoulder so tight that I feel the indent of her nails in my flesh. “Just do it. Don’t worry about me. I’ll get out of here. I swear it.”

“Kara, I don’t know if I can,” I whisper, turning my head to speak in her ear as well. “I promised them.”

“I don’t care.”

“I think they can help me find out more about my parents. Maybe help me find them.”

She grits her teeth, and her jaw widens as she thinks. “I thought you didn’t want to find them.”

“I never said that. I just…I didn’t want to hurt Mom and Dad. I’ve always wanted to know why I ended up in an orphanage, for closure, if nothing else. Now Mom and Dad are gone. I’ve been thinking about it more and more, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but now this has happened, and they’re all I can think about. There are questions I need answered.”

“They gave you away. I’m your family. You and me against the world.”

I nod in agreement, though it’s for her sake not mine.

“This reunion is touching,” Sebastian says. “It almost makes me tear up.”

My back straightens at Sebastian’s voice. I don’t have to look at him to know he’s a few feet away. Kara turns to glare at him.

“You’ve had your moment. Now it’s time to go.”

Kara rubs my back. Her words echo in my mind. Run. I should do it. I should find a way out and to save her too, but my mind is already made up, and I can’t change it. The need to know more about what and who I am is too great. Nothing can force me to change course. Besides, I promised Sebastian, and though I could care less about Alexander, I feel the need to keep my word if only to ensure he and his brother eventually leave my sister and me alone.

“Tick tock,” Sebastian says. “You have an elder vampire to kill.”

“An elder?” she says with narrowed eyes.

“Yes. One of the oldest and strongest vampires in the world,” he adds.

I could scream at him. Was it really necessary to taunt her like this? If I ever get super strong, I’m going to remember this and punch him in the nose with all I have—but not until I know it’ll hurt.

Kara stills and the look on her face is pure murder. I want to shout I’m sorry, but it will only fall on deaf ears. She spins around and lunges for Sebastian. Who is this person? Kara has always been strong and protective, but this Kara is fearless and a little bit scary.

Sebastian whizzes out of the way, and Kara hits the wall with her hands up, palms out. She slams her fist into it and curses before trying again. Every time she attacks, Sebastian pivots.

“Stand still and face me!” she screams, fists up, knees bent.

“I thought you were going to tell her to be nice,” Sebastian says to me. This time, when she swings, he stays put. Her fist collides with his nose, and though it bleeds, it’s Kara who topples to the floor, cradling her arm against her chest. She moans and whimpers, but her lips remain straight, too proud to admit she’s likely broken something.

I rush to her. “You didn’t have to do that,” I snap at Sebastian.

“Me? She’s the one who threw the punch.”

I scowl at him.

I rub Kara’s back, but she shrugs me off. “You’re going along with this? Really? That’s what they want you for?”

“I would have told you, but I knew you wouldn’t like it, and…”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t. What are you thinking?” She moves and flinches as her arm twitches.

Sebastian crouches beside her, and she leans away. He bites his wrist and holds it out to her, red blood dotting his flesh before sliding down his arm to drip in splatters on the floor. “Drink it. It’ll mend your bones.”

“I’d rather you amputate my arm.”

“I could do that too,” he says with a wicked gleam in his eye. “You won’t turn. A few drops won’t do anything to you but heal you and maybe make you a little stronger. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? A better chance to escape?”

“Stop tormenting her. She knows she isn’t going to get out of here unless you allow it.”

Though she refuses to take the blood at first, eventually, she relents and decides to coat her fingers with his blood and suck on her fingers instead of touching her lips to his skin. He chuckles as she wipes his blood off the floor and touches the crimson liquid to her tongue.

“I’ll give you points for pride. But pride only gets you so far in life. And it often gets you killed.”

“Eat shit, vampire.” With crimson-stained lips, she closes her eyes. I see a change in her immediately. Her pale, tortured face returns to its normal golden hue. The cuts on her cheeks and above her eyes seal and disappear. A moment later, she wiggles the fingers on her injured arm.

“Okay?” I ask.

She nods, still scowling. “Don’t do what they ask. You’ll regret it. Or you’ll be dead.”

“I’m sorry. But I don’t have choice.”

“I promised Mom and Dad I’d do whatever it took to protect you, and I meant it. The only way you’re doing this is over my dead body.”

“It could be arranged…”

“You’re not helping,” I snap at Sebastian.

“I told you this was necessary,” Sebastian says, and I know what he means, even if I don’t like it. “Always the hard way.”

I have to leave her now. She’ll be safe, but it doesn’t crush me any less. It feels like a betrayal, and she’ll take it as one. I only hope she can forgive me in time.

His vampire friend, Michael, enters. I frown at the drop of blood on his chin, but I refuse to think of how it got there.

“The she-devil is out,” Michael says with a sigh.

My sister narrows her eyes at him.

“Time to lock you back up,” Sebastian says.

“Not fucking likely,” Kara says, but when Sebastian and Michael pounce on her I take a step back and ignore the wrenching stomachache that spreads through me like a disease. The last thing I see before they slam the door between us is her open mouth and the pain in her soft brown eyes.