I changed my mind at eight:seventeen in the morning.
I had told Rhea tomorrow.
Tomorrow had sounded reasonable while Atlas stood beneath the porch light and the impossible still felt like something I could lock outside.
Then the telephone appeared beside my bed.
Jinny called me dangerous.
And I realized I could not spend another night waiting for something else to climb the house.
I texted Rhea.
Plans changed. Today. As soon as possible.
Her reply arrived less than a minute later.
Ten. End of your road. Come alone.
I told Mom I was going out with a friend.
She assumed I meant Tessa.
I let her.
The lie sat heavily in my stomach as I limped down the driveway, but not heavily enough to make me turn around.
Rhea waited in a dark truck beyond the curve where the house disappeared
