I laugh before I can stop myself.
“What?” he asks immediately, panic flashing across his face like he thinks something’s wrong.
I wipe at my eyes, still smiling.
“I think she just ruined you forever.”
He looks at the baby.
Then back at me.
Really looks at me.
And something warm and dangerous passes between us—something that has nothing to do with fear or survival.
Something that feels a lot like home.
“Yeah,” he says quietly.
His voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it.
“I think she did.”
17
Marco
My mother is going to burn something tonight.
Or blow something up.
Or both.
I know the signs.
It’s how she’s always been.
I finally understand why my father could never stand being in the same room with her for more than a few minutes. Even when I was a kid, there was something wrong in the air when she walked in, like the room itself knew danger had arrived.
She doesn’t fight fair.
She fights cruel.
And when she starts losing…
She makes the world bleed.
I stand by the window, watching the quiet street outside while the others move Laney and the baby into the back room to prepare for relocation.
The town looks peaceful.
Too peaceful.
A few lights glow in the distance. A truck rolls slowlydown the road. Somewhere, a dog barks once and then goes quiet.
People going about their night.
People who have no idea a war just stepped into their lives.
