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removed their heart from their chest…
    “Everything swirled so fast that it was hard to see. Caleb managed to spin the car to the side of the road, but that only set us right in the path of a second truck. It was speeding toward us, gaining momentum. I didn’t understand, but I didn’t have time to. Blood gushed from my head. It all happened so fast that the wound just didn’t have time to heal.”
    I lowered my head and imagined the scene. I could hear the engine protesting against the brakes with grotesque clarity, squealing like nails on a chalkboard. I saw the two huge trucks tossing Caleb’s Jeep around as though it weighed nothing, with him and Triona inside flailing like rag dolls as the metal twisted and crumpled around them, pliable as aluminum foil. Glass sprayed through the air and caught the dull sunlight, shimmering as it showered the ground.
    “The whole side door pressed in. I braced myself against the front seat and tried to reach Caleb. He wasn’t making any noise. He didn’t cry out. I think I heard his head hitting the glass of the side door when it shattered. I don’t know if I screamed. I…”
    I looked up when her words trailed off. Triona’s eyes darted back and forth as though trying to make sense of what had happened. Perhaps she was searching her memory for something she had missed at the time. Her eyebrows drew down, and she scowled fiercely. Anger and frustration rolled off her like plumes of smoke from a raging fire. I wished Amanda would move away and chastised myself for the thought—Triona would never hurt her.
    “It ended as fast as it began. The very second we stopped I managed to crawl out from under the seat, but it was agony. Caleb was lying limply in the front. I only made it as far as window height when we were hit again, and this time I wasn’t holding on to anything. The last thing I remember was smoke and then waking up in the hospital.”
    She swallowed hard and opened her eyes, fixing me with a direct gaze. The green blazed like lasers, and I shifted uncomfortably, knowing she saw right through me.
    “Where is Caleb?”
    “I don’t know.” The words shot out of my mouth before I realized they’d formed inside my mind.
    “Eila, please give us a moment,” Samuel asked before Triona had a chance to speak again.
    Tears formed in Triona’s eyes. The taste of salt prickled on my tongue. Her heart slammed against her ribcage, or perhaps that was mine drowning out every other sound around me.
    “I’ll decide when anyone leaves,” she said coldly.
    “Triona—” Amanda started. Triona silenced her with a glare.
    Amanda’s hand slipped from Triona’s back, and she took a step away, confusion and hurt playing out across her expression. I had seen them argue before this. What best friends didn’t argue? Amanda never backed down this way—a single look enough to make her fold.
    “You can’t lie to me,” Triona said, casting her watery eyes over each of us. She swiped at her cheek. “I don’t actually need Eila for that.”
    No one spoke. I glanced at Lewis and Carmel. They seemed so out of place. Carmel clutched Lewis’s arm. His jaw was rigid, a sign he was struggling to hold his tongue. Humans had no place in this situation, family or not. In a dangerous circumstance, they would be lost first. I could never forgive myself if something happened to either of them.
    “Then you understand this had to be Zeal’s doing,” Eila said plainly, “and you understand Caleb expected it would be a matter of time. You took everything from Zeal at Tara, including his son.”
    “I killed his son,” Joshua added. “I’d do it again if I had to. The question is how do we get Caleb back?”
    Eila’s lips spread into a tight smile. I often wondered how their relationship worked. It must have been strange to have no secrets at all, only brutal honestly all the time. It had to be emotionally exhausting. I was under no illusion about Amanda and me. She drank the tar I