EMBER’S POV

There is something deeply unnerving about it. My stomach squirms, a bad feeling resurfacing and leaving a taste in my mouth I can’t swallow away.

Nathaniel feels it too. He turns the slightest fraction toward Knox, catching his stare for a second, and a subtle frown crosses his face — questioning, uncertain.

Knox’s grin only widens.

A chill runs down my spine. There is trouble here. I can just taste it.

“Knox, darling.” Rayana’s voice is carefully bright. “Come sit with us. We’re writing letters — things we’ve been carrying that we want to let go of. We write them, fold them up, and burn them together.” She...