Heaven is beautiful. But beauty, I’m learning, is not the same as peace.

Amriel is silent. Then: “Some prayers are answers in themselves.”

“I know.” I don’t look away from the marble. “There’s a girl down there. She keeps lighting candles for her brother. He’s not coming up.”

And somewhere below, that girl blows out her candle. I feel the tiny death of its flame like a stitch in my soul.

From up here, Earth looks like a cracked marble—blue and brown and bruised, but somehow still spinning. I press my palms against the balustrade of the Dawn Terrace and feel the hum of a billion prayers vibrating through the crystal floor. Each one feels like a small, warm bell inside my chest.

Right now, I’m nervous.