"Oh," says Gela faintly, halfway through his recollection. She knows which one he's speaking of. And he knows that she can't control this thing inside of her at all, that she had to ride along inside it as it loped through the woods, licking blood off its maw.

If only she had gone to Jude's world in the first place. At the time she felt violently relieved to have not but in hindsight, it would have made a good alibi.

Pushing for words, to respond, she blurts, "No. I don't want to. I think it has power over me."

Which is the closest she's ever come to really saying it, out loud. It's terrifying and exhilarating. Unknowingly, one of her hands has come to lay on her chest, palm pressing down as if trying to hold something in.