We let the silence blanket us, feeling no need to fill it. Just sitting here with him under the stars takes me back. To the stoop. To the place where I had my bearings. A place I knew my way around. I knew how to get stuff done my way. A place that felt like my lane. Now I’m here in this new environment, playing a different ball game entirely—one for which I’m still learning the rules. I better rise to the occasion quick because I’m up to the plate.

The moon sits high and I glance at my watch and shudder.

“You chilly?” Julius takes off his hoodie, his bare skin slick under the moon, gold links dangling down his chest. “Here.”

I know he’s cold, but I don’t argue. I slip it on. His sleeves are so big they swallow me, which makes it extra cozy. He turns toward me more so I can better fit into the nook between his jaw and shoulder, wrapping an arm around me. And I let myself breathe for just a second. Because for the first time in a long time, it feels safe to.

I drift and sleep takes me forcefully in its grip.

The hall is empty and Jhamal and I move down it. He holds a metal pole of some sort, coated and slick in red. He holds me up and I tell my knees to work, but they only half listen.

“Your magic, Jelani,” he says. “We will need it. Try harder. Please.” His voice cracks.

I dig, but it doesn’t answer. I bite down, straining for warmth, but my arms go loose, weak and limp next to me. My magic is there, but I don’t have the strength to wield it. What’s happened to me? A man with eyelashes flashes in my head.

Jhamal and I come to a set of stairs lit with glowing orbs. He pokes his head out and I dig for that familiar heat. My magic flutters in me, but lifting my arms is a fight. Like the very strength has gone from my body. I try to swallow, but my throat is chalky. I dust my lips and white powder coats my fingers.

“Water,” I manage. He pulls me up by the waist, and disappointment and something else I can’t quite place furrow his brow.

He looks both ways. I try to remember which way we’d come. How we even got in this place to suggest something, but my mind is morning mist on a chilly winter day.

Someone somewhere screams. A hand clasps my shoulder. My arm stings, crying stripes of blood.

“Ah!” I sit up, gasping.

“Rue? You knocked out there.”

I gulp, taking another deep breath, handing back his hoodie. Jhamal and I were trying to escape? W-we were running together, underground, before they captured us? I… but my magic.