“Rose, please.” Sora’s voice was more insistent this time, less gentle, but I turned to look at Griffin.
“What did you say?” I asked, my voice catching like a sob in my throat. “You said ow,” I continued, my voice rising—high-pitched, desperate, loud. “You said ow. Why?”
Griffin stared at me like I had lost my mind. Maybe I had. My fingers tightened around the barrel of the gun.
“Tell. Me. Why.”
“River hit me,” Griffin said.
“Of course I hit you! You think you can just blink out of existence, and I won’t even hit you?”
River had punched him, and he’d felt it. It had hurt.
I lowered the gun, my body shaking like it might never stop, my arm weak, my shoulder useless.
“She hit you,” I said dumbly, “and it hurt.” I didn’t wait to see the words register on their faces. Instead, I turned
