The paperwork sat on the kitchen island like a legal summons. It was a high-gloss brochure for the Starlight Academy in Long Island City, a preschool that boasted biometric security and a price tag that would have made most families in Queens balk.
To Elena, the cost was irrelevant. The true price was the breach of her perimeter.
For three years, Matteo had been a secret kept behind triple-locked doors. He was the "Inconsistency" she had successfully hidden from the world. But as she watched him now, sitting on the rug and sorting his wooden blocks by their weight and grain density, she knew she couldn’t keep him in the fortress any longer.
"He needs to be around other children, El," Lily said quietly. At thirteen, her voice possessed a maturity that mirrored Elena’s. "He’s starting to
