Chapter 12

I stayed rigid until my legs could hold me no longer, and I collapsed backwards to the floor, barely feeling the pain. My head swum with dizzying nausea, trying to understand what just happened to me. Even now it felt like it had happened such a long time ago, and only for a fraction of a second—it almost didn’t feel real.

But it was real. The ache in my chest from my palpitating heart was real, the itchy slick on my forehead was real. The words whispered in my ears—they were real.

When I could...