The world shrank to one impossible image: her father standing right in front of her in a place that felt like a nightmare. His face was pale, carved with a war she couldn’t read, and he had suddenly become the center of Tessa’s collapsing universe.

Confusion pulled at her like a black hole. Why was he here? Why had the same hands that used to carry her when she was little just grabbed her and dragged her to this place?

Her mind was fogged by fear and whatever chemicals were still in ...