The engine coughed, a desperate, rattling sigh, then died. My foot, still pressed to the accelerator, felt numb. The gas gauge needle hovered just above empty, a cruel joke. I slumped against the cold window, the condensation from my breath blooming against the glass, momentarily obscuring the bleak landscape.
I'd driven until the city lights had thinned to scattered pinpricks, then to nothing at all. Back roads, winding and dark, had been my companions, each turn an attempt to outrun the clamor in my head. My breath plumed white in the frigid air. The heater had long since given up its fight, leaving me shivering in my elf tunic. It felt absurd now, a ridiculous costume for a woman in full flight.
The silence of the dead engine amplified the questions swirling inside me, questions I'd b
