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“You haven’t eaten enough.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat.”

Her knife came down.

Slowly.

“Don’t.”

One word.

Quiet as hell.

I went still. She finally lifted her gaze.

Fuck.

I almost wished she hadn’t.

There was no rage there. Rage I could handle. No hatred. No fear. Just hurt. Deep enough that I couldn’t find the bottom.

“Don’t what?”

Her eyes held mine for one brutal second. “Take care of everything except the thing I’m asking you for.”

Then she looked down again.

My chest hollowed. I could’ve told her. Right there. Fuck the past. Fuck the consequences. I could’ve opened my mouth and given her every last piece of it.

Instead…

I watched her pick up her fork.

Coward.

The word came from somewhere inside me. I didn’t argue with it. A shadow crossed the doorway. Ghost. He didn’t enter. Didn’t need to. One glance at me. One shake of his head. Nothing. Still nothing. The Clove Man had walked through my home. Destroyed my daughter’s ribbon. Entered Nyssa’s bedroom… and vanished.

I looked across the table. She’d stopped eating again.

“Did you find anything?”

At least she was speaking to me.

“No.”

Her mouth tightened. “Of course not.”

Something about the way she said it made my pulse shift.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Nyssa.”

Her eyes lifted. Cold this time. “Apparently that’s what we’re doing now.”