she had felt something huge rear up in her heart, like a planet shifting her lungs aside, flattening them against her ribs. Alim had held her for a long time and checked in with her after they uncoupled their bodies, asking if she was okay, how she felt, soft worry in his hands and voice. Feyi had told him she was perfect because that was how her body felt—sated and languid, fed with pleasure. She hadn’t told him that her lungs were flat, that something alive was breathing in her chest. It had been so long since she’d felt like this, Feyi didn’t recognize what it was until Nasir said it like
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