I exhale.
Meeting done. Cole gathers his knife and his coat and slaps Jonah on the shoulder hard enough to dent a normal man. Logan pushes his chair back and lingers for just a moment without saying anything. Jules tugs Elias up by the lapel of his coat and murmurs something into his ear that softens his mouth. Nova rises off Silas's lap and stretches, her hand resting on her stomach. Teddy’s eyes go to the bump.
Marek hasn't moved.
I stay too. I don't know why. My fingers find my forearm again, but lighter this time. Just the ridge above my wrist where Wren's eyes caught the scar tissue and slid away.
“Marek.”
He looks up. “Yes, brother.”
“Do you think it works?”
He doesn't ask what I mean. He turns the top card of his deck over without looking at it. Sets it face up between us on the table. I don't look at it—I keep my eyes on his.
“I think a man can carry a lock his whole life,” he says, “and never find out it was open.”
“That's notan answer.”
“No.” He turns another card. Still doesn't look. “I think the lock is in your hand, Rowe. And I think killing him doesn't open it. But I think killing him puts down something heavy you've been carrying with the same hand. Which means when you finally try the lock, you have one hand free that you didn't have before.”
I swallow hard.
“There's a woman,” I say before I know I'm going to say it.
His mouth twitches almost imperceptibly. “I know.”
“How do you know?”
“You haven't touched your armwhile you were thinking about her just now.”
I look down at my hands.
“Oh.”
“Mm.”
He gathers the deck. Slides the cards I didn't look at back into the middle.
“Go take care of your animals, brother,” he says. “She'll be here soon.”
I standbut pause at the door.
“Marek.”
“Yes.”
“The dog.”
He doesn't look up from his deck. “I'll be good to him.”
I wonder why he wants that specific dog for himself but know better than to ask.
“I know you will.”
I step out into the afternoon. The sun is high over the Big Top, the wind carrying the sounds of my animals to me. I head toward them with one hand in my pocket and the other loose at my side.
I don't touch my scars once on the way.