—Ellie—  

   Mateo was already gone when I woke the next morning. He’d always been a late riser, but that, too, seemed to have changed. I slipped out of bed and dressed before I left my room. Instead of heading downstairs, I moved down the hallway to Arianna’s room and knocked. My stomach tightened painfully. 

    “Come in!” she called. 

    Frowning at her chipper tone, I slipped in. She lay on her stomach, her ankles crossed. She was drawing. When ...