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And, well, I never left.

I needed her just as much as she needed me, and together, we went to therapy and took classes to prepare for what we planned to do.

My combat experience meant I could skip that part of the training, so instead, I earned two degrees and spent years studying acting, including the Meisner technique.

“Nothing? Really?” Nika asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow, her voice too sharp for my liking.

I glowered.

My sister could hate Keira, but she would not be cruel to Neeve. I wouldn’t allow it.

“Oh, I’m sorry, have you ever been kidnapped and used as a sex slave, Nika?” I asked, venom coating my voice. “No, I didn’t think so. Maybe after months of that level of torture, Neeve wasn’t thinking, boy, let me interrogate my rescuers. Maybe she was in shock and questioning whether two ghost women were actually helping her at all.”

Nika opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Because I was there for the after. I was there for the sleepless nights and the days when she refused to talk to anyone. I was there for the days she begged me to let her kill herself.” My nostrils flared. “Don’t pretend you have any idea what it was like.”

Was I still talking about Neeve, or had my own pain begun slipping through?

My heart slammed against my ribcage, and energy buzzed through my veins. Not good. That was the kind of energy I got right before I gutted someone.

And unfortunately, I couldn’t gut my baby sister, even if I wanted to snap her neck.

“I’m sorry.” Nika stepped back, rubbing her hands against her dress. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you weren’t,” I snapped.

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

“It’s okay,” Neeve breathed.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not.”

Severin took a tentative step forward, like a man trying to tame a wildcat. “Can we ask you a few questions?”

Neeve’s knees shook, and I reached out to steady her.

Bringing up those first days after her return had been a mistake.

Somehow, it made everything feel real again.

I knew that feeling all too well.

Sometimes, the past felt like one horrible dream, especially for me, because I no longer had any scars.

Death stole everything from me. Including the evidence that it was all real.

“If you’re going to continue this interrogation,” I said, “first, we’re moving somewhere she can sit down. Second, we get to end this whenever we want.”

They agreed, and we moved to a sitting room within the mansion that was dripping in green. Green velvet couches and curtains. Historical-themed green wallpaper, and even the trim on the coffee table was green.

Neeve and I sat on a couch across from Severin and Nika.

Mikhail stood against the back wall beside my father, like sentinels on watch.

The other two left to give Neeve more privacy.

“If you can, tell us anything you remember from the car and plane rides.” Severin leaned forward like a therapist, his expression intense but sympathetic.