Aryyah returned to Cletus's workshop late that evening after the devastating meeting with Morrison and the lawyers, her mind still reeling from the impossible position Jackson had trapped her in; she found Cletus in his apartment above the workshop, cooking dinner, and the domestic normalcy of the scene felt jarring against the chaos consuming her life.

"How did it go?" Cletus asked, looking up from the stove where something was simmering.

Aryyah set down her bag heavily and sank onto the ...