The Wednesday morning sun was an intruder. It bled through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air of Aliya's childhood bedroom. Jake sat in the same spot he had occupied all night, his back against the headboard, his eyes never straying far from his sister's sleeping form. His joints ached with a dull, persistent throb, but it was nothing compared to the knot tightening in his gut.
He checked his phone. It was 6:30 AM. He had a message from Alice about the server hardware arrivals and a notification that his RS 6 had been started—Catharine was heading to work. He sent a silent prayer that her day at Johnson & Associates would be quieter than the last, but his focus immediately snapped back to the girl beside him as she began to shift.
