I finally slept—heavy, relieved sleep, dreamless and perfect—and woke with Sy curled against me, his breath rustling my hair. I lay peacefully in the quiet, feeling the heat of the early afternoon sun sliding against my skin.

All at once there was a thunderous knocking at the door.

My first thought, irrationally, was of my uncle. My mind refused to believe that this silence from him was anything other than menacing, waiting for the first moment for me to screw up and ...