EMBER’S POV
I sit with that. It’s enormous. It’s too big to hold all at once, so I do the thing I always do with things too big to hold — I set it down, gently, and reach for the thing I can do.
“Then I should start reading,” I say. “Now. Today. While we wait for Friday.” I look up at him. “And while I’m in there, I might find something for Rayana. Something to buy her time. That’s worth a hundred dead birds, Knox. That’s a thing I can do with my hands and a book, not with the wolf. Let me try.”
Something in his face softens, the worry losing to the part of him that, despite everything, can’t help but be a little proud of me.
“Go read your terrifying books,” he says. “But two things.” He holds up a finger. “Avoid Hale. I’m going to look into the Celeste’s-room business properly, but un
