Regan closes her eyes, hand reaching up to press against her forehead and cover her eyes in shame. She shakes her head. "No. We missed you, we were worried." It'd been difficult to rein in Saoirse's temper as the time had stretched, and finally, she'd all but taken matters into her own hands.

The dogs were still at home. The plan had formulated in Regan's mind as they'd started their walk through the dark: get Saoirse to the Gardens, make sure Greta was okay, then go back for the dogs and some clothes. But then those things, whatever they were, had shown up, and grabbed her, and now she's gone.

Regan suddenly thinks how stupid she is. She needed to be better, smarter, around little kids. First Beau, now Saoirse? She can't imagine if something terrible happens. If she...

Regan doesn't think she'd be able to live with herself if it comes to that.