ssi

celebration; it was

estate, a fortress of cold stone and iron

s no music to fill the silence. My white dress did

d me down the aisle. He

rate for a scrap of their approval. He had sold his only dau

a lesson, and now, he was handing o

uard by the heavy oak doors

ra was

the front row, wrapped in a cashmere shaw

on the verge of death, using her illness as

h. She looked more vibrant

s a small, tight curvature of her l

lungs, and took a deep, easy breath-

oked

the altar. His palm w

mmanding tone he used to order a hit. He pr

" I wh

e walls, I was a rat. Inside, I was

stripped off his jacket and tossed it

utiful, Ales

e gently. He didn

and took what he believed h

rint himself onto my skin, to erase whatever was left o

d, he rolled over a

haling a plume of smoke toward

ng at the canopy of the

gutted by fire, leaving only the

t the painting hand my father had crushed

safety was just ano