“I don’t understand how you always win,” Piper whined, knocking my queen over for the fun of it.
I’d already won—for the two hundred and twelfth time, by my count. Piper had always been fiercely competitive, and since I’d taught her chess last year, it had become a near-daily ritual. She’d bested me four times, and only because I’d allowed it.
“Care for another round?” I asked, setting the piece upright and resetting the board with calm efficiency.
She flopped back against the sofa. “Not if you’re just going to crush my soul again.”
She was competitiveanda sore loser. A charming combination.
“You’d be just as irritated if I let you win.”
“Of course I would!” she snapped, flinging her arms up. “I want to beat you because I earned it. Not because you gave it to me out of pity.”
“You’ll need lessons, then, babe,” Sanjay said with a yawn, rubbing at his eyes as he strolled in.
“Stay out of this, Jay!” Piper clutched her wine glass with theatrical indignation, refusing to scoot over to make space for him.
Unfazed, he dropped down beside her, eyes scanning the table strewn with takeout containers. “Hey, did either of you meet the new nurse?”
“I’ve only talked to Regina and Hannah this week,” Piper said, distracted. “What did she look like?”
“He,” Sanjay corrected. “Tall. Dark hair. Kinda quiet. Didn’t catch his name. That’s why I was asking.”
A shiver crept up my spine, curling its fingers around the base of my neck.
“He was sitting with Ishani yesterday morning. I stepped out for a phone call for just a minute and when I came back, he was gone.”
My heart lodged itself in my throat.
“What?” Jay blinked at me. “He was wearing scrubs. Ishani knew him. Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Elizabeth?”
I forced myself to breathe, tried to soften the tension winding through my shoulders. “It’s nothing,” I said, too quickly. “I haven’t met him yet. Regina would know.”
Piper launched into a dramatic scolding, berating Jay for not getting a name, but I stopped listening. My mind was already spiraling. I rose to pace the room, trying to untangle Death’s latest move.
Ishani stirred in her sleep, her body restless beneath the thin blanket. I moved to her side, brushing sweat-damp hair from her brow.
The whiteboard in the corner caught my eye—her room number, her doctor, the nurses assigned to her care.
Regina. Hannah.Grim,written in elegant, deliberate strokes.
My blood turned to ice.
I crossed the room in two strides, wiping the name away with the back of my sleeve, the ink smearing like spilled secrets.
seven
Grim
It was bare. Her existence.
After a decade, I would have assumed she’d have more to show for her time here. After over a century, you’d think she would have collected more than a few bags. But the room was empty and my finger lifted, leaving chalky dust in its wake as I trailed it along the dresser. I was almost ashamed of myself for even bothering to touch anything in this room. Yet, I found myself doing it, each surface reminding me of just how little she had truly gathered.
Her footprint was undoubtedlynotsmall. She had left a trail of terror in her wake since the moment her curse had set in, but something pricked at my mind when it came to Astoria. Her existence was gray—washed out, devoid of color and permanence. It was muddled by the choices she had made, yes, but also clouded by my own interference, overshadowing her small but fleeting attempts at agency.
I set my hand against the windowpane, feeling the temperature of her life inside. There was nothing here. No permanent connection. It was almost as though she couldn’t commit to anything, a wanderer even in her own space.
Stepping foot in her room was suffocating. It wasn’t just the air that felt too tight, though. No, it was the invisible tangle of our immortal lives, intertwined in ways I couldn’t begin to fathom. I hated it. The weight of it.
