It was the first time Ethpeal ever shouted at me, though the louder she became, the angrier I grew in return, my guilt fading as she raged at me over something neither of us could change.

"Let him go," I finally snapped. "He's better off with those who understand him, rather than tormented by the possibilities of what could have been."

Ivan crowded in behind his wife while Miriam stared at me, arms wrapped around herself, as if she didn't know who I was. Let them be ...