As I walked, I turned the events of the previous night over in my mind. Adam. Me. Gabe. It was snarled up like a tangle of yarn in my mind. I cared about Gabe deeply, but he was gone. And there were things he hadn’t told me about himself, important things. Did that matter? I reached the Cage and slipped inside, shivering as the shadows striped my skin and the Farthers’ gazes searched me. I reached the entrance to the village and hurried through the streets. The wind-scrubbed stone walls and buildings formed a tunnel of gray and I wandered through it in a fog of thought. Someone called my name, and I turned, my heart beating fast. Blackcoats? But it was Jullia, her stained hands gesturing at me from the alleyway. “How are you?” I asked. Once, the Dyers had been among the most well-dressed of the village. Now, Jullia’s hair fell in wispy strands around her face, and threads hung from the edges of her dress. Her pale cloak, previously soft and white as milk, had turned dishwater gray.
