The world stopped moving when I saw her.
My mother stood on the frozen river like she belonged there. Half spectral, half solid, her body shimmered with thin ribbons of moonlit static that drifted off her skin like smoke. She looked both alive and not, held together by something fragile and ancient. Her dress fluttered in a wind that did not exist. Frost curled around her bare feet without touching her skin.
I took one step toward her.
My boot slid across the slick ice and I almost went down. A strong hand caught my elbow. Nathan. He held me steady without pulling me back, breath sharp, eyes locked on the figure ahead.
“Margot,” he said quietly. “Slow down.”
I did not slow down.
I was already stepping forward again, chest cracking open. My mother flickered like a candle flame in the
