“It’s strange,” she whispered, almost to herself, and I held very still, suddenly afraid to startle her out of revealin’ her mysteries. “That you could look at me and see everything I’ve ever wanted to be.” She closed the book and hugged it to her chest, eyes dark and fathomless as they raised to me. “It feels just as good as it does bad. To be seen like that.” Her lips flattened. “Like being flayed alive.” “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
