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"Of course!" There's not a single note of hesitation in my heart. "You can color it in any color you like."

"Yay!" Her entire face lights up in delight and before long, my arm stretches out before her while she very carefully colors the leaves on the vine with a blue pen.

I continue working on the giraffe, but it's a lot harder when not using my dominant arm.

"Does it tickle?" Illyana asks, her focus remaining on my arm.

"A little. It reminds me of a bug running up and down my arm."

"A magical bug!" She giggles to herself. "One with magical feet that go do, do, do all the way up your arm!" She dots the pen up my arm toward my shoulder as she talks. "And then the magic turns into different colors."

"Yes," I agree softly. "A magical bug." Silence falls between us for a few minutes and Illyana moves up my arm with different colors, green and yellow now. "Illyana?"

"Mmhmm."

"Is it… strange for you to be here?"

"Not really. Uncle Mario moves me around all the time. He always tells me as long as there's a doctor nearby, then everything is fine."

That explains why she's so calm about being on a ship with strangers. She must think this is just another one of Mario's plans.

"Uncle Mario the bully?" I ask, half just wanting to remind her of how awful he is.

Illyana grunts and doesn't reply.

There's one more thing I want to ask, but the thought of her answer, any answer, is terrifying. Just contemplating it is enough to send my heart racing like a rocket and I swallow hard while staring at the top of her head.

"Illyana?"

"Mmhmm?"

"What about your mom?"

"She's dead," Illyana replies immediately. "She died when I was just a baby."

I expected such a response, but the flat way she speaks is like a knife to the heart and I wince as pain lances through my chest.

Dead.

Of course that's what they would tell her. It was so easy for them to write me off like I was nothing. Just thinking about it brings an odd sting up the back of my throat, and I force myself to swallow.

It doesn't shift.

"What… what if that's a lie?" The tingle in my throat makes my voice slightly hoarse.

"A lie?" Illyana finally lifts her head and looks at me. "Why would that be a lie?"

"Well… you already said your Uncle Mario was a bully, right?"

She nods.

"And your father isn't like the dads in your books because he's never around."

She nods again.

"So they're not very nice people and maybe… maybe there's a chance they lied and your mom is alive."

Illyana stares at me blankly. "No," she replies.