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“Wait! Una!” she calls. “Before you leave!”
I glance at Cillian, who nods. “Go. Take whatever time you need. I’ll be here.”
I bite my lip, smiling at him before I turn and jog back to the house. Inside, I step into her office to find her looking at me curiously, her office phone receiver in her hand.
“Sorry, but they just called as you were leaving.”
My brow knits. “What? Who?”
She holds the receiver up, lifting a shoulder.
“He didn’t say. But he asked for you by name.”
My heart clenches, face paling. “Was…is his voice garbled?” I croak. “Like a weird mechanical sound?”
Sister Angela looks at me like I’ve got two heads.
“No, sweetheart,” she smiles, lowering her voice and covering the phone as she holds it out to me. “He sounds like a perfectly nice man.”
I’m losing it.
I shake my head, smiling as relief floods my coiled muscles, relaxing them. “Sorry, that’s not as weird as it sounds if you know the story. But, thank you.”
She laughs. “It’s okay. I’ll be outside, to give you some privacy.”
“Thank you.”
I take the phone, glancing through the office window to where Cillian is leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette. I hold up a finger. He nods as I smile and lift the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hello, little bird…”
The ground falls out beneath me. It’s like the earth comes to a screeching, terrifying stop, making me want to throw up, or break into pieces, or scream.
Because the voice on the other end belongs to a dead man.
“Who is this,” I choke, my throat closing up as darkness presses down all around me.
My father chuckles.
“How was your wedding, Una?”
The room spins. The color drains from my face as I cling to the edge of the desk, looking right ahead yet seeing nothing.
“This…” I try and swallow. “This isn’t real.”
“Oh, but it is, little bird.”
No. NO. NO. NO. NO.
“You’re… You’re dead…”
He chuckles that dark, horrible, rust-edged laugh of his. “AmI, though?”
He’s dead. This isn’t real. You’re losing your mind.
“I always knew you were the strong one, Una. Finn wasweak.”
