Verena 

Kian leaned against the wall of the hallway, his eyes narrowing on me. I could feel the blood rushing into my own ears, hard and deafening. 

Not only did he ruin my morning. He ruined every plan I had for his uncle. 

Anger threatened to consume me and every part of me fought to confront Kian but I’d rather ignore him because the last thing I wanted was for Nina to walk in on us arguing.  If I did that, he would leave me alone. 

But, I could never be more wrong. 

The moment I attempted to walk past him, he pushed off the wall—stokes of coal burning in...