Page 121 of In Shadows We Dance

He saw me when no one else did. Not my father. Not my mother. He looked at me, andsawme. And now I know what it feels like to burn. To want.

"Ileana." My mother's voice pulls me from my thoughts. She’s standing in the doorway, her face pale and drawn. "Try to rest. It’s been a long day."

Rest. I almost laugh. How am I supposed to rest when the life I was finally discovering is being taken away?

The memory of this morning flashes back—Agent Miller at our door before dawn, my father’s grim face, my refusal.

"Pack what you can carry. Nothing traceable."

"No." My arms were crossed, my voice steady, even though my hands were shaking.

"This isn’t a discussion."

"I’m eighteen," I shot back. "You can’t just make me disappear because you’re scared."

His face had hardened. "You have no idea what’s at stake."

"Because you never told me!” The words burst out of me, years of silence finally breaking apart. “You just expect me to live like a ghost. To be nothing. To fade whenever you decide."

"Everything I did was to protect you."

"No. Everything you did was to control me. To make sure I had no power. No choices."

He’d grabbed my arm, his fingers biting into my skin. "Pack. Now. Or I’ll drag you out of here with nothing."

I’d pulled free. "Like you took me from my real father? Like you stole Victor Rossi’s heir?"

The silence that followed was cold. He’d turned away, jaw clenched. "Five minutes. Then we leave."

Now my mother sits beside me on the bed. "You don’t need to look so angry. We’re doing this to keep you safe."

"Safe." I spit the word out like it burns my tongue. "You think this is safety? Being dragged from my home, forced to leave everything behind?"

"You don't understand the danger?—"

"Because no one ever told me!" My voice rises, my frustration pouring out. "You and Dad just expected me to accept it. To follow your rules. Do you even realize what you’ve done to me? I don’texist!"

“What are you talking about?”

“I. Don’t. Exist. No name. No bank account. No identity. I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own. If you left me alone tomorrow, I’d starve. I can’t get a job. I can’t get a house. I havenothing. You erased me so completely that I wouldn’t last a day without you.”

She flinches.

“And now you’re trying to do it again. Drag me away. Hide me somewhere else. Bury me deeper.”

She opens her mouth, but I shake my head.

“You say you’re protecting me, but Wren?Heshowed me the truth. He showed me what it feels like to exist. Tomatter.”

“Who is Wren?”

“The boy who sees me.” My voice is steady. “You don’t know him. You wouldn’t understand. But he’s the reason I’m fighting. He’s the reason I’mdoneletting you decide who I get to be.”

“You’re so young Ileana. You don’t understand.”

“I understand more than you think! Wren isn’t the one keeping me in a cage. You are. Dad is. You’ve turned me into someone who can’t survive on her own, and now you’re surprised I want something different.”

Tears spill down her cheeks. "We wanted to protect you."

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