MY MIND DRIFTED WHILE MAERI laced me into a gown. Alek didn't force conversation, simply offered his arm and we walked to the dining room. Sian, Kassie, and Loi wore the same look of resignation and acceptance that I knew I bore.

Dinner wasn't awful but occasionally, when the conversation paused, I needed to squeeze a hand tight under the table, nails cutting into my palm, when my mind conjured up images of Deas.

He was only fourteen.

As old as my cousinsorry ...