“He left slowly, as if he had to pry himself away before he something improper. A growing part of me wished he'd stayed.”

“I ran after him, but he was already back with the others. My footsteps echoed in the hollow space below the dock. I stopped. If he'd wanted me to catch him, he'd have let me.”

“My heartbeat faltered. He pulled away, taking a little piece of my heart with him.”

“Thwack. The nail drove deeper, as if Montgomery was driving it into my very heart. How hard was it to fix a loose nail? He hit it again and again, determined to set that bookshelf straight. Determined to do something right, after so much wrong.”

“Paranoia had crept into that part of my brain usually reserved for reason.”

“We're going to die, aren't we?" I asked bitterly. He held me so tight I could hardly breathe. But I wanted tighter still. "Not here. I swear it.”

“But I couldn't get the image out of my head of the beast strapped to the table, Father humming while the candle wax slowly dripped, and Montgomery assisting. I felt betrayed, as though the boy I'd idolized was nothing more than a fantasy.”