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“But Kayla being dead is what makes the most sense.” Gabie’s voice gets very quiet. “What do you think it would feel like to drown? Or to be strangled to death? Do you think it would be agony until the very end? Or would you pass out and stop feeling it? Is it just blackness? Is it like sleep? Or is it just this torture that goes on and on?”
Gabie starts to shake. I get up, kneel in front of her, and put my arms around her. It’s different than the few other times I’ve touched her. Then I was aware of Gabie as a girl. Now I feel like her brother. Someone stronger. Even though I’m not. I mean, she’s the one who saved me in the river, not the other way around. Gabie’s the one who figured out how to save my job. She’s the one who stood up to that crazy psychic.
But with her trembling in my arms, it feels like I’m her brother or her father.
Until she kisses me.