“As the sky faded to night, her anger dissipated—but not in a healing way, just dulled, like forged iron sizzling in a cold pail of water.”

“A sullied green “S” stood out on a graying backdrop that made for a road marker up there. We called it the wasteland.”

“Wasn’t allowed to have pets. I killed my pet cockroach when it crawled into my ear.”

“My hands trembled, so I took a deep drag to calm my frayed nerves. I just wanted to forget that terrible sight, but questions multiplied in my mind as the smoke furled.”

“The tides rolled up to crash against the shore while we sat feet from one another with the remnants of all we’d left unsaid driving us apart.”

“From the way his face lit with curiosity to the slight tilt of his jaw, even the lingering scent of brine and breeze gave him away.”

“Are you telling me Kara Orris is afraid of rain?” Hunter’s grin twisted into a smirk as his eyes lit up, relishing his new discovery with absolute delight. “Why, that’s adorable!”

“Guilt chilled me more than all of this rain combined.”

“We’d never talked about his parents, like he was some underwater Peter Pan.”

“You’ve never had someone you love snatched,” I shot back, annoyed by her ignorance. “Any sense of safety kind of bites it after that. You watch your back because no one else can.”

“He looked so frustrated and perfectly serious, and yet here we were talking about his missing seal pelt.”