Not only had I lost Morgan, and Bryce too, but now it looked like I was even losing Ian, effectively.

"What about you?" I asked him, struggling to speak through my tears. "What will you do?"

"I have to stay here," he said quietly. "At the house. I can't leave my family vulnerable again. I just can't. I'll stay in the attic. For now. It's what I have to do. The Home Guard won't find me up there, even if they come with a search warrant. There's a panel in the wall I can hide behind if anyone comes up there. I can take care of myself."

"And Morgan?" I asked. "Her body?"

"The Home Guard will take it," he said. "There's nothing we can do about that."

Danielle called out softly to Ian from inside the bedroom.

Ian touched my shoulder in a heartbreakingly cold way.

"You're on your own Ashley," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. If there was any other way—"

But he cut himself off. For a moment he looked like he was going to hug me, but he stopped and said nothing more.

I had to leave.

As I stepped away, Ian said, "Ashley, wait," but I ignored him.

I hurried down the stairs.

Before going back out into the night, there was one thing I had to do.

My dad was at the dining table, sitting alone. His face was buried in his hands.

I sat beside him and put my hand on his back.

"Dad?"

He startled a little, as if waking from a dream. He patted my hand, then he looked away.

"I need to ask you to do something for me," I whispered. "I told you if I went to the ruins, Ian would go with me. But that's not going to happen. Not anymore. He doesn't know about them yet. And now he can't know about them. Not ever. Don't say anything about the ruins at all. Not to anyone. Not even to Ian. Okay?"

My dad nodded. He was in a daze after everything that had happened in his house that day, but I knew he wouldn't tell a soul.

"You be careful," He whispered. He turned and hugged me. "Love you, kid."

It was all I could do not to break down crying in his arms.

"I love you too, Dad."

I pulled away from my father's embrace and hurried out the back door into a dark, moonless night.

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