The fire towers glowed brighter, crackling behind us. Laughter and footsteps surrounded us with the kind of joy people tried to bottle into New Year’s Eve like it was a perfume they could wear into January.

I was delighted to an extent, enjoying swaying to the music with Ethan but my gaze kept darting sideways, past his shoulder.

Why? Higan. He was still watching, still standing under the same flickering lamplight, but in a twisted way that made my stomach turn, he seemed a little ...