Instead, the only thing she’d managed to do with her life was getting lost in this horrrible world, all her twenty-seven years scrunched back into a child’s body. Worse, she had only an expanse of smooth skin where her mouth should be. Under the skin, a solid piece of bone. No teeth, no muscles, no jaw. She couldn’t talk. She couldn’t eat or drink.

Ignoring Mattie, she moved a little closer to the house, trying to get a better view of what was inside. Maybe she could find Jilly and figure out a way to tell her they could escape. Then Del appeared in the doorway with a grin on his face that made her wish she’d just stayed in the field with the goopy mess in the grass that was all that was left of the priest.

“Isn’t this sweet?” Del said, his gaze moving between them. “Two of my best girls, wanting to know if I can come out to play.”

Beside Lizzie, Mattie giggled. Lizzie turned to look at her. She wanted to punch the little twit in the face, break her nose and make it bleed. She even got so far as clenching her fists when she realized what she was thinking.

God, when had she become so violent? Was that going to be her new answer for anything she didn’t like or couldn’t make go away? Kill it, or at least try to hurt it? And it wasn’t even Mattie she was mad at. It was her own helplessness, and Del, who’d made her weak.

“Our little nameless girl looks mad, doesn’t she, Emily?”

Lizzie turned back to face him. Her hands fell limply open at her sides.

Don’t, she wanted to say and felt more disgusted with herself than ever for being so helpless that she’d be willing to beg like this. Don’t hurt me. Whatever it is you’re going to do to me, please don’t make it worse.

She had no voice. She had no mouth. She couldn’t speak. But Del could read the fear in her eyes.

“You’d better be scared,” he told her. “Emily knows why.”

He doesn’t know Mattie’s real name, Lizzie thought. She had no idea what that meant, if it meant anything, but she filed it away all the same. Know your enemy, Johnny had been fond of telling her when they’d worked out at the gym. He’d meant the way the enemy moved, how he might be telegraphing his moves, but Lizzie figured that anything she could add to the little she knew could only help.

“Everything belongs to Del,” Mattie said. “And everybody is here to do what he says.”

“Think you’ve learned that lesson yet, little nameless girl?”

Lizzie gave a quick nod. Was he going to give her back her mouth?