A busy shop, a friend's baby, the easy warmth of a small town at work—and underneath it, a certainty quietly coming loose.

There is a particular comfort in believing that whatever went wrong was done by a stranger, someone already gone, someone you'll never have to pass on the street. This chapter lives in the moment that comfort thins—where ordinary errands and a mother's divided attention can't quite drown out the question of who, exactly, you've been standing beside all along. How well do you really know the people who trust you?

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Narrated by Rebecca Hasler.

Set in D.W. Sheppard’s vast interconnected world where protective Gates hold back deadly monsters and treacherous flora, where safety is never guaranteed.

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