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Prologue

2010

She stands at the hairpin turn on Night Road

The forest is dark here, even in row in dense thickets on either side, their h into the su the worn ribbon of asphalt; the air is still and quiet, like an indrawn breath Expectant

Once, this road had si onto its potholed surface without a second thought, rarely—if ever—noticing how the earth dropped away on either side Her s back then, on the minutiae of everyday life Chores Errands Schedules

Of course, she hadn’t taken this route in years One glih to o off the road than to find herself here Or so she’d thought until today

People on the island still talk about what happened in the sus and spout opinions, half-truths, ments that aren’t theirs to ive them the facts they need But the facts are hardly what matter

If anyone sees her here, just standing on this lonely roadside in a pocket of shadows, it will all coo, when the rain turned to ash …

Part One

Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost

—DANTE ALIGHIERI, THE INFERNO

One

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