Ryder

Lila didn’t answer right away. She just stared at me with wide eyes and parted lips, as though the words had gotten stuck somewhere between her throat and her tongue. The hallway light caught the faint flush creeping up her neck, and I could see her pulse fluttering quickly at the base of it—nervous and alive.

Yes, I had seen her when my eyes drifted across the ceiling. She had moved away fast, but I’d noticed her there. I was the one who had created that stupid hole in the first place, because—

“I think you need to leave,” she said, breaking the silence.

I stayed exactly where I...