Chapter 61

TW: Child abuse, suicide, emotional distress

Mason

With King and Niko gone for the meeting with the Iron Serpents, and Zuri finally asleep upstairs, Alyssa and I are alone.

She's watching "Enchanted" for what has to be the millionth time. I've never actually watched the damn movie. That's usually something she does with Niko, but I swear I could recite it word for word if someone held a gun to my head.

I should be reading the book in my hands, but I find myself reading the same lines over and over again, the words refusing to stick. Instead, my focus keeps drifting to Alyssa—the way she smiles at the cheesy parts of the movie, how she curls her legs up on the couch, hugging herself. She looks like she wants to be held, and I want to be the one to hold her, but I'm still too much of a f*****……