*Alec*

A week had passed, yet it felt like a century to me. I had done my best to avoid Ember after what had happened in the library. Was she scared of me now? Did she think me no better than Lukas? I didn’t even know what had possessed me to approach her like that, only that it felt like she was a magnet, her pull inevitable.

In the meantime, I had tasked Lauryn with befriending her. Though Lauryn’s default manner was cold and aloof, I thought that Ember might ...