Maria stood, reached out, and grabbed Mateo’s hand, locking her palm against his. The bolt passed through him and into her.

This is how it ends.

Mateo screamed. Maria heard the sound, somewhere. Saw him clasp his other hand to the side of his head. She felt the pain in her own ear.

Something shattered. The noise, the ground-shaking thunderclap, was muted.

The pain spread through her body. The most intense, most beautiful pain she’d ever felt. Then it all began to fade away.

Maria smiled.

This is how it ends.

EPILOGUE

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

The invitations were pretty. They’d sprung for the gold-trimmed envelopes and gotten them embossed. The three names were in gold lettering too. Right under the big, tasteful banner that said “We gather in memory of . . .”

Delilah turned the card over in her hands while she decided what to do.

She could ask Mateo. He’d probably say no, but it was still the right thing to do. Delilah was trying to get better about doing the right things.

She hadn’t spoken to him for more than a month, but she knew where to find him. The track was over by the law school. It was as far as you could get from Delilah’s dorm without leaving the grounds altogether. She wrapped a brown knit poncho around her shoulders, grabbed her cane, and set out.

It was getting colder—it was November now—but Delilah was always cold regardless of the weather. All summer she’d kept wearing cardigans when everyone else was in shorts and flip-flops. Ever since she’d woken up in the hospital, almost a year ago now, she shivered if she didn’t have at least one layer covering her arms.

She’d woken up the same night Maria died. The same moment, actually. Delilah was sure of it, even though everyone told her there was no way to know for certain. Maria had died the instant she’d been struck by lightning, and the first thing Delilah had heard that night—the first sound she’d heard in three and a half weeks—was a thunderclap.

Not a normal thunderclap. This one sounded like it could shake the earth on its foundations.

The last time she’d talked to Mateo was to invite him to her family’s house for fall break. She’d heard his parents still weren’t speaking to him, and she thought it would be fun to have him at her place. Plus, her own parents still treated her like she might break at any moment, and it would’ve been nice to have a distraction around.