I stared at the message a long time before waking Noah, the glow of the screen throwing pale light across the darkened living room.
~I have something to tell you both. Come to the estate this weekend. I'm ready now.~
My pulse had gone fast and uneven, some old anticipation and dread tangling together in my chest. I nudged Noah gently, and he stirred, blinking awake with the particular disorientation of someone who'd fallen asleep somewhere he hadn't planned to.
"What is it?" he asked, already reading my face before I said anything.
I handed him the phone silently, watching him read the message twice, his own expression sobering quickly.
"She's decided," he said quietly. "Sooner than she told you at the party."
"Do you think it's really happening? The whole thing? Tonight, this text,
