A party in the orange grove. The pain on Linden's face is immediate. I am unwavering. He has cost me more pain than I will ever be able to repay.

His three wives are huddled together on the bare mattress, one of them dying; when we're together, we form an alliance he can't touch. He's scared to even try.

who once had dreams of saving the world, now laughs at anyone who tries.

I stare at her collarbone that's framed with lace, the hollow of her throat, her shoulders that rise with each rise with the weight of her next breath. We're fragile things. Our bones show through our skin. What would any god want with us?

There's a world out there that nobody has bothered to promise her.

She would do anything, anything to belong to his son after a lifetime of belonging to no one at all.

You’re insane, you know that?” he says. “It’s the only thing keeping me afloat,” I say.