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“How did everything get so messed up?” I whisper.
“Piper?” Gram asks. “Piper, honey?”
I feel her hand on my shoulder, but the world is already fading around me. I feel disconnected from my feet. The ground is slipping away, tilting dangerously.
The only reason I don’t fall backwards down the stairs is because Ashley wraps an arm around my waist.
“I got you, girl,” she says, lowering me to the steps. “Sit down. Deep breaths.”
I try, but my lungs are tight. I drop down onto the stairs. The morning is already hot, but the adobe is cool under my legs. I grip the edge of the stairs for stability.
Someone is smoothing my hair down. Someone else is patting my back.
Gram and Ashley are on either side of me, propping me up like bookends. I close my eyes and lean into their strength.
After what could be an hour or mere minutes, Gram bundles my hair in her hand and drops it over my shoulder the way she used to when I was little. “Now, can you tell us what is going on?”
I open my mouth, not entirely sure what’s going to come out. The last few weeks have been so complicated that I’m not sure where to begin.
But I don’t have to.
Before I can utter a single word, the wrought iron gate squeaks open. I look up, and I’m glad I’m already sitting down. If I wasn’t, I’d be face first on the concrete.
Timofey is standing in the courtyard like an avenging angel, his skin golden in the morning light. He’s smiling, but his gaze is cutting.
“Well,” he says, slamming the gate closed behind him with finality, “isn’t this a sweet family reunion?”
14
PIPER
I lunge to my feet so suddenly that Ashley and Gram collapse in on each other. As they right themselves, I move down the steps, throwing myself as a barrier between Timofey and the only family I have left.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“You’re both here?” Ashley balks. “That would’ve been nice to know, Pipe. What is happening? Is this some kind of wild west stand-off?”
Timofey pats his hip where I know he has a weapon concealed. “Am I supposed to say, ‘This town ain’t big enough for the both of us?’”
Ashley laughs a bit behind me, but it’s only because she doesn’t understand the very real threat behind the joke. She’s right. I should have told them the moment I walked through the gates that Timofey was in the city. I should have told them they were in danger and forced them into a car.
“Timofey.” I inject as much meaning into his name as I can.
He’s looking down at me, a silhouette in the morning sun.
When I blink, I see him hovering over me in my dream. Smiling while telling me he wishes I was dead.
I hope that isn’t true.
When I look into his eyes, I know it isn’t. The eyes are the windows to the soul, right? And in the depths of Timofey’s soul, I know there’s a good man.
I just have to believe it isn’t buriedtoodeep.
“Can you talk to me?” I gesture to the far end of the courtyard. “Give me five minutes. Please?”
“We can all talk,” Gram interjects. “Someone needs to explain to this old lady what is going on.”
“And this young, hot lady!” Ashley waves her arm over her head obnoxiously.
