What he had actually done was set me down — put me past the reach of him — and hand me, in front of witnesses, the exact stage I needed.

Chapter 4 — The Microphone

I turned on my heel and walked to the DJ’s setup at the edge of the patio, and I lifted the microphone off its stand.

Feedback shrieked across the speakers, killing the music mid-song, dropping the whole backyard into a sudden, ringing silence.

Every face turned to me.

“Hello, everyone,” I said, and my voice came out of those speakers steady and clear and edged in a way it had not been in two years.

“I’d like to propose a toast.