Summary

This part begins with an untitled poem describing what people can be willing to do to survive traumatic environments. In the subsequent chapter, Naja begins to catch up to Savik’s size. Both babies shapeshift to look more like Best Boy. Savik shields Naja from the pain around them by feeding on it himself. Savik especially enjoys the narrator’s favorite uncle’s pain, feeding on him until finally her uncle dies. Soon after, the narrator’s father begins to fall ill, and so she moves into Helen’s house to protect her father from Savik.

In Helen’s house, Best Boy begins to fall ill while the narrator’s father recovers. The narrator distances herself emotionally from Savik in an attempt to weaken him, while Naja’s healing powers also grow weaker due to her sadness at her mother’s distance from...