Chapter 1

The salt air was thick tonight, heavier than usual, clinging to my skin like a second layer of silk. I stood on the edge of the marina’s wooden pier, the planks slick with condensation beneath my heels. It was the annual Christmas Boat Parade, the kind of event where the wealthy and the leisurely came out to gild themselves in fairy lights and champagne. Above, the sky was a bruised purple, the first stars beginning to bleed through the twilight, but all I could see was the water. It churned dark and black against the hulls of the yachts, reflecting the chaotic glitter of a thousand string lights. The smell of diesel fuel mingled with the sweet, cloying scent of roasted chestnuts and expensive perfume drifting from the decks above. Somewhere in the distance, a brass band was playing a slow, distorted version of "Silent Night," the notes warping in the wind. I had told him I would be late. I had texted: *Traffic was a nightmare, Daddy. Don’t wait up.* But I hadn’t meant it. I had meant to give him time to settle, to find that quiet corner he always sought when the noise of the world became