EMBER’S POV

He carries me up the wide dark stairs, away from the line and the happy crying and the cousin with the frozen smile, into a part of the house that feels different the second we cross into it.

Older. More majestic.

He carries me over the threshold of the big double doors at the end of the hall, and finally sets me down on my feet just inside the doorway.

His hands linger on my waist for a second, his mind already somewhere past talking.

Then I actually look at the room, and my brain flat lines for real.

It is bigger than the entire apartment Gale and...