It’s enough to startle a tiny laugh out of her, which she quickly masks with the kerchief. “Ana!”

Warmth blossoms in my chest at the sound of that laughter, and the sight of her smile. We are family, Rosalita and I. And now, she is one of us. Part of our clan. Our little collection of lost souls has grown by one.

My limbs tingle in a weird way, but not a bad one. It’s like my body is too full of emotion. Sadness, loss, love, joy. It is all there, rumbling under the surface. I don’t know what to do with it all, so I do the only thing I can think of.

I pull Rosalita into a tight hug. She stiffens for a moment, and I feel like a fool. Both of us are covered in bruises, but even so, she wraps her arms around me and holds me tight.

“I love you, Ana.”

“Love you too, Rosa.”

We stand like that for a long time, as the rain begins to ease and the clouds part. The sunlight warms us, washing away the cold, gray light of morning.

CHAPTER 40

Kiki

Dawn is a harsh mistress.

She is not as harsh as the bruises on my ribs, each a different and alarming shade of purple. Nor is she as harsh as the powder burns on my hands or the abrasions on the side of my face, the existence of which I rediscover every time I have the audacity to rest my cheek against my pillow.

Sleep, therefore, has become problematic. And though fatigue has wormed its cruel way deep into my bones, I find that I don’t mind quite so much when the view is so nice.

Ana’s hair falls across her cheek, the strands rustled with every soft exhalation. Freckles dust the bridge of her nose, darker now than they were at the start of the season. She has spent every night of the past week in my bed, and no one has dared to say one word about it. Being apart from her was untenable. As tired as I am still, I am glad for the sleeplessness my injuries have blessed me with. I don’t want to miss another moment of being with Ana. We wasted so much time. All I want is to savor every single second of every single day I get to call her mine.

“You’re thinking too loud.” Ana’s sleepy grumble is soft but irritated. “I can hear it even with my eyes closed.”

I rub my smile into my pillow. It hurts, but that tiny bit of pain keeps me from giggling like a madwoman.

“What on earth do your eyes have to do with your hearing?”