"What do you mean he died?"
My voice comes out thin and sharp at the same time. The boat cuts across the water, but everything inside me feels frozen. Nathaniel's photo is still open on my phone. The man beside Richard has my mother's eyes, my family's mouth, and a name I have never heard before tonight. Elias Vale. Elias Montague. Dead ten years ago. Alive.
Victor grips the side of the boat so hard that his knuckles turn white. He is not looking at me now. He is looking at the phone in my hand like it might open and swallow him whole.
"Explain it," Julian says from the front of the boat. One hand stays on the wheel. The other is tight around the rail. His voice is calm, but only on the surface. I know that tone now. It means he is one hard breath away from breaking something.
Victor f
