I turn my face to the sky as the drops increase. I let the water slide down my face and mix with my tears and wash away my anger. Wash away the ash on my body, blurring where Travis's name was written on my arm until it's gone. I spread my arms wide, letting the water deluge me.

Cass and Harry scurry down the path, Jacob cradled between them, looking for shelter.

Looking for a branch, a bush, anything to slow the sting of the punishing rain.

I allow myself to collapse, to fall to the ground while the water washes over me. Jed comes to kneel by me. He lays a hand on my cheek, asks me what I'm doing.

I grin, wide and strong. I tell him to leave me be.

He looks at me for a long moment, the water dripping from his hair and nose and chin.

And then he leaves me alone, for he understands my loss.

Water pools around me; I become part of the flow. I imagine myself in the ocean, every breath of air tinged with water. My lungs revolting as if I'm drowning.

The path beneath me softens into mud and I roll, allowing it to coat me, thrashing in the water and muck and tears.

I yell at the thunder. Shout at the lightning. I scream at the Unconsecrated, demanding to know why they have taken everything from me.

But the Unconsecrated only moan and paw at the fences.

I stand, race up and down the path, waving my fists. Baiting them. But they drop their hands.

They wander away, shuffling down to taunt Harry and Jacob and Jed with their hunger.

Angry, I race to the fences, thrust my fingers through the links and shake with all my might. I bang against the metal.

But they leave me be. The Unconsecrated slip past me as if I'm not even there. The water and mud masking my scent.

Finally, Harry braves the rain again and comes to me where I'm slumped against the fence. He pulls me back just as Unconsecrated fingers slip through my hair like a fleeting memory.

With gentle movements he wipes the mud from my face. And then he pulls me to his chest and as the storm rages around us and the Unconsecrated beat at the fences he whispers in my ear, “I miss him too.”

For a moment we are one in our grief, and then we hear the shouts.

I look up to see Jed skidding down the path, waving his scythe in the air above his head. When my eyes meet his he stops and motions us forward. I can't hear what he is shouting.

Harry and I stand, find our footing and follow.

We pass Cass and Jacob shivering under a wide bush. Argos begins to trail after me and I hesitate and then push him back toward Jacob. The little boy grasps at the dog's scruff, burying his head in the fur at his neck. Argos looks up at me and whimpers slightly. I flip one of his ears through my fingers, scratching the tip, and his eyes relax into contented slits as he slides to the ground against Jacob. Absently the little boy rests a hand on the dog's tummy, fingers drumming, causing Argos's left hind leg to twitch. Cass glances up and mouths “Thank you” and keeps her arms tight around Jacob, returning her lips to his ears as if recounting some secret story.