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 holds up a blank page and a pen, waggling them in his direction. “I saved you a spot.”
“I’m fine here.”
“The exercise works better in the circle—”
“I said I’m fine.”
