“Bold move!” Gavin said from his place in the clearing as he leaned his head one way until his neck cracked. Lily could feel the noise it made in her own bones. He did that whenever he was nervous. At least his skin suit used to. “But useless, if you want any answers. Go ahead, Ruthie. Tell them what you did.”

Lily was overcome by her desperation to touch Sean. To tell him to run. These men and their ghost meant nothing to her. All that mattered was her son, with a knife wedged beneath the tender meat of another’s jaw. Him and the only thing that stilled her hand: her daughter, out there somewhere else.

Ruth swallowed, holding very still in Sean’s grip. “I’m so sorry, Daddy,” she said, through a whimper. “I couldn’t.”

“What do you mean, you couldn’t?” Gavin asked, taking a step toward them.

“I gave her the pills, but I couldn’t—they’re not like you said, Dad. They’re good people.”

Gavin shook his head. “Fuck, Ruth,” he said, his jaw tight. “I thought I could count on you.”

“You can! I just—Dad—” Ruth wrenched forward, but Sean held her back. “They’re not bad people,” Ruth said, relenting. “He did a bad thing, but he’s not a bad man.”

Lily recognized the phrase. Silas used it a lot to describe Philip.

“I’m not fucking playing,” Sean said, and Lily could hear a little shake in his voice that almost ripped her in half. “Take one more step and I will kill your daughter.”

Gavin paused, and then he laughed. “She’s no daughter of mine,” he said through clenched teeth, flicking the handgun with his wrist as he talked, making punctuation dangerous. “My daughters know the meaning of showing up for family.”

Silas turned slowly to face Ruth.

“Hey, Ruth. Sweetheart. I know you’re scared, and I’m so sorry. But I also know you love Mickey. I’ve seen it all summer. She loves you so much, too, you know? I’ve never seen her have a friend like you. I know you don’t want to hurt her. Just tell me where she is, and everything will be all right.”

“I’m sorry—I couldn’t—I can’t—”

Gavin raised his gun and took a step in her direction. In response, Sean tightened around her, the knife pressing into her skin. Lily couldn’t believe how brave he was. She didn’t know how or when he had become that way, or whether she wished he was otherwise. She hated how badly she needed him to be reckless.

Lily felt as much as she saw Silas’s shadow move over her spot in the dirt, pulling Gavin’s focus off Ruth and Sean, toward the open, empty woods.