HAZEL
The car wheels rattled against the road. I watched the landscape blur past my window and fought to keep the smile off my face.
Milo was dead. Actually dead. I'd watched his execution myself just this morning. Watched the life drain from his eyes as the elders of Silver Creek passed judgment. The memory was delicious. Sweet. I kept replaying it in my mind like a favorite song.
"You're smiling." My mother's voice cut through my thoughts.
I turned to look at her. Mother sat across from me with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She was dressed in her best traveling clothes. Dark blue silk that made her look regal. Sympathetic. Like a concerned mother making a difficult journey to check on her wayward daughter.
The performance had already begun.
"I'm just thinking about Fia," I said. Let some sadness creep into my voice. "Wondering how she's doing. If she's still alive."
My mother's lips curved slightly. "Of course you are."
