cross Denice's face and dragged her from dreams she couldn't remember. She woke

pine, and the scar. She stared at it, unable to look away. Five years, and she still knew every millimeter of that mark. The way it

ed to touch it. She wanted to

-she'd learned to leave beds without waking their occupants, first her mother's when the nightmares came,

are you

oor, one knee still on the ma

is waking tone, and for a moment-just a moment-she heard the boy he

night, and pulled the dress over her head without bothering with undergarments. The fa

p. His eyes found hers, and whatever soft

es

sold your body for your son's life. And you

hour, that she needed every dollar for the rent Bea's lawyers hadn't yet found a way to seize, that she couldn't survive on Mon

pinning her to face him. "Your son is dying. You're here because I agreed to-" He gestured at the bed, the rumpled s

so often they felt true even when they weren't. "You wouldn't understand. You've n

ex and that underlying scent that was simply Jasper, simply home, simply everything she'd lost. "Explain how a

and she couldn't afford to break, not here, not in front of him, not when he could

ely, watching her face. "My brot

le, wild-eyed, a stranger. "You don't know anything. You don't know what I-" She stopped. Swallowed. The truth was ther

ound his robe, pulled it on with sharp, angry movements. "But I know what you are. A woman who'd sell anything for secur

the clasp. She didn't look at him. She couldn't. If she looked, she'd break. If

her, Jasper was silent. She could feel his eyes on her back, could

. Her voice was steady. She didn't recognize it. "On

sed it behind her with a click that sound

nt door before her legs gave out. She caught herself on the stone wall, sl

e pressed her fist against her mouth, bit down, tasted blood again. She couldn't c

eality. Denice wiped her face with her sleeve, smearing mascara across her cheek. She stood, pulling her thin, da

found a seat by the window. The city blurred past-Queens, not Manhattan, the buildings lower a

or might not be growing in her womb. She thought of Jasper's scar, of his

and prayed-not to God, who'd never answered, but to biology

t. Let this work.