Chapter 31: Blame Game

I finally slept—heavy, relieved sleep, dreamless and perfect—and woke with Sy curled against me, his breath rustling my hair. I lay peacefully in the quiet, feeling the heat of the early afternoon sun sliding against my skin.

All at once there was a thunderous knocking at the door.

My first thought, irrationally, was of my uncle. My mind refused to believe that this silence from him was anything other than menacing, waiting for the first moment for me to screw up and do something—in his mind—truly incriminating. But my uncle would never knock. And never betray so much anger externally.

Sy lurched awake beside me, bolting upright. He looked at me questioning.

"I don't know," I whispered—then wondered why I'd whispered.

Sy didn't say a word, just slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of black jeans and headed to the door. Belatedly, it occurred to me that I should at least reach for a robe, but there was no time, so I pulled the covers up to my chin.

Sy opened the door just an i