Prologue
Themetalfeelscoldagainst my skin, but I don’t dare move.
I’m pretty sure I haven’t taken a breath for a full fifteen seconds, which is a lot since my record’s eleven. I’m too afraid to breathe, move… anything. I have never received something so delicate in my life.
My fingers skim, tracing over the moon-shaped pendant that now hangs around my neck by a small silver bail.
I smile over at my mother. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s nice,” Lillian agrees with a tight grin. Less interested now than she had been earlier. Angling her head back, she finishes off the last of the wine in her glass.
The leather dips, squishing into my back. The muscles in my cheeks ease on a deflated breath. Disappointed by her reaction.
Why did she have to start drinking now?
“A beautiful gift for a beautiful little girl,” the man who’d gifted me with the necklace says, distracting me.
I make my smile overly gummy, beaming up at him. Showing off the gap that’s missing from the center of my mouth where my tooth had been.
“You think so?”
His eyes twinkle, glancing over at my mother and then back down to me. “As beautiful as her mother.”
Lillian huffs, snorting into her glass.
He doesn’t move his face, but his eyes rise, following the sound. The creases in the corners deepen before smoothing back out when they land on me again.
This isn’t the first time he’s given her this look tonight. It’s a mix of questionable curiosity and irritation. Lillian doesn’t care either way. Alcohol now fueling her mood.
I wish she’d put down her glass already.
Dismissing whatever he’d thought before with an easy smile, he’s watching me again. Only this one doesn’t meet his cheeks, not as spirited—genuine—as earlier.
My insides drop. I know it’s because of her.
“Is there something wrong? Do you not like your gift?” Those worry lines are back, only they aren’t filled with annoyance like when he’d been eyeing my mother. These ones are filled with concern for me.
My hand wraps around the pendant as a broken breath pushes past the gap in my mouth. There’s a pause but then I hear a similar defeated sound leaving his own.
Both of us upset but for two different reasons.
He leans forward, and I blink up at him through my lashes. Those lines even out again when I give him my attention. They’ve been doing that all night.
Pinch, smooth. Pinch, smooth. Pinch.
I’m not sure what they mean, only that they seem to diminish when I give him my attention. Like he’s enamored, his interest strange, but it doesn’t make me uncomfortable.
He taps at my hand still around the necklace. “Know what the most special thing about a moon is?”
“A crescent moon,” I correct. Proud of myself for remembering.
“You’re too smart. Where did you learn that?” His tone warms. Eyes shining as they lighten up in silent glee.
I shrug. “School.”
“Did you learn about the solar system? The stars too? How they twinkle in the sky?”
I nod my head to all of it. My moves overripe and with too much gusto, but I don’t care. Excited that he seems interested in me, Lillian never is. I decide then that I like this man, whoever he is.