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OPIE

Dear Opie,

Hey kid, I know that you are probably freaking out right now. I’m so sorry. No matter what happens, I need you to know that you are my little sister, blood or no blood. And that everything I do, I am doing to keep you safe.

Right now, that means you can’t come with me.

I’m going to work with Doyen O’Connor on a project that’s going to take me far away. You stay here and learn lots. Go to Phyllis if you need anything at all.

And take care of Bandit for me. He can’t come where I’m going.

I love you, Opie, more than you can know. Krishna is a good friend. I’m glad you have her.

I’ll write if I can.

Love always.

Harlow

O pie stared down at the letter as the air left her lungs in a whoosh, and blood roared in her ears. Crimson and black spots impeded her vision, flickering like fireflies, making the words blur into a mass of black ink. This couldn’t possibly be real. Harlow had left her here?

Alone?

“She would never do that. This has to be a trick ...” Her voice was a whispered plea in the silent room.

But Bandit himself had delivered the note only moments before, and the sharply pointed scrawl was all-too familiar.

Alone.

She tipped her head back and stared out at the moon. It was barely visible through the rain lashing at the windows. A chill rolled through her, and she shuddered as memories came storming back in ...

“Stop crying, Ophelia. It’s unbecoming of a Baumgarten. You’ll accept your fate, and land on your feet, or you won’t.”

The Rolls Royce slowed to a smooth stop, and her mother turned to her; the only hint of emotion on her unlined face? Annoyance.

“Now go on with you.”

Opie stared into those steely-gray eyes, knowing that there was no changing her mind. Knowing that, once she stepped out of the car, she would likely never see her family again.

“B-but . . . it’s pouring out . . .”

“Which is why you have an umbrella in your suitcase, and enough money to put a roof over your head.” Her mother snapped her fingers twice. “Get a move on. I have a dinner party to attend.”

“A dinner party to attend,” Opie said with a harsh laugh. “She dumped me on the street like a stray dog, and she was worried about a dinner party.”

She tried not to let the rest of the memories in.

The terror when she realized no one would rent a room to a child.

The bone-chilling nights at the shelter as she latched herself onto one woman or another and pretended she belonged.

The weeks she spent at a foster home with the Willises, waiting in agony for the night that Mr. Willis finally made good on the menacing promise in his eyes.

And then the sun had come out.

She’d met Harlow, and everything had changed. She was going to be forever family. It had taken over a year, but eventually, Opie had let herself believe it. And now ...

She bit her lip so hard it bled as she balled the letter up in her hand.

“Fuck you, Harlow. Fuck you, and your stupid raccoon, and your promises and your lies. Fuck everyone who has left me alone and disappointed.”

The sensation that flowed through her was white-hot, like a cleansing fire, burning everything in its path. Her whole body began to shake violently, rattling her bones and teeth.

She swallowed a feral scream as her palm lifted of its own accord, fingers splayed wide as the note burst into flames.

She stared, almost in a trance ... the fire danced, growing, spreading up her arm, but never burning her skin.

Instinctively, she lifted her other hand.

There, in her palm, a yawning void. A black so black, it nearly dragged her into it, consuming her whole.

Nocta’s words, that had come in the form of a thought when he’d saved her and Krishna – words she’d convinced herself were a figment of her imagination, came back to her in a rush.

“You are more than you know, child. Find me when you find yourself. I will show you the way.”

Was this what he meant? She’d been so afraid to tell anyone, even Harlow, because even if it had been real, surely he was wrong. Surely, it was just evil talking ... telling her what she wanted to hear.

But as the fire danced and the void pulsed, her fear faded, leaving behind a sensation she’d never felt before.

Power.