Chapter 6

The crying starts again just as the lights in my chamber flicker out. Not the muffled sob I heard through the wall last night—this is thinner, ragged, like someone’s throat is fraying with every breath. It slides along the stone, crawls under my skin, threads right through the black-rose burn over my heart. “Stop,” I whisper to no one, pressing my palm to the mark. It pulses, answering the sound like a heartbeat answering an echo. The crying doesn’t stop. I should stay put. I can...