Page 105

It all dawned on Nora now, this agonizing, embedded tragedy. The bitterness that had isolated her grandparents and her mother. “She confessed and let you record her.”

Her mother shook her head. “She never knew about the recording.”

“So you just—”

“I needed proof. For myself.”

“Then what?”

“I knew she was trying to ask me for forgiveness. And I told her that I would never give it to her.” Ma’s mouth set in a grim line. “She outlived everyone. She never had any consequences. There was no justice for my sister.” She lifted her eyes to Nora’s. “Before I left, she asked me if I wished she were dead.”

“And you said…?”

Her mother looked away.

“But you didn’t do anything to her. Right?”

Her mother’s eyes filled again. “But what if I still caused it?” As angry as she knew her mother had been, Nora could see the true painin her face. “What if my conversation with Vivian that day made her end her life?”

MADELINEran down the stairs and into the library. The doors were open, the room empty and dark. She stared up at the dust particles suspended in shafts of light.

Suddenly, vines surged through the cracks in the panels. They snaked upward and squirmed over the windowsills. The walls around her rippled and contracted, as if the room itself was alive. As if it were taking a breath—

She blinked again and there was nothing. Everything was once again still.

She marched out of the room, past the shards of Elaine’s phone left behind in the foyer. She went to Nora’s room and knocked. When there was no response, she knocked harder.

The door opened a crack, and Nora squeezed out the sliver of open space, shutting the door behind her.

“Are you okay?”

Nora nodded. The scratch on her cheek was raised and red.

Madeline reached for her, and Nora leaned in. But then she felt Nora still. “We can’t.”

“I don’t care what they say.” Madeline was filled with a wild, reckless rush. “They have no ground to stand on. They’ve been lying to us. You’re the only one who’s cared about me this whole time.”

Nora’s expression crumbled. When she looked back up there were tears in her eyes. “Don’t you see? All our families know how to do is hurt one another.”

“But we’re different,” Madeline said. “We didn’t even know some of these people existed! I won’t let my family hurt you again.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Nora’s voice was flat. “We inherit their history.Remember?”

Madeline stilled at hearing her own words repeated back to her.

This time, Nora didn’t meet Madeline’s eyes as she retreated into her room. “We shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

Madeline stared at the closed door. This was all a mistake, then, toNora. How could Madeline have assumed otherwise? She had fallen for her without a second thought. But Nora was never supposed to even acknowledge her in the first place.

Her family had destroyed the Dengs. This she could never answer for.

Madeline was halfway up the stairs when everything started to shake.

It started quietly, but soon became violent. Madeline stumbled, holding on to the wall to steady herself as the shaking worsened. Her knees buckled and she fell hard on the steps. The chandelier above her clanged. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember what she was supposed to do in an earthquake, but her mind was blank.

And then, just as abruptly, the trembling stopped.

forty