EMBER’S POV
It hits the oldest wound I have, the one that says you are nothing on your own, you have always been nothing on your own, you survive only by attaching yourself to someone stronger.
And the fact that it’s true- the fact that the only reason I’m not dead in that storage room is that Knox reached through the bond and pulled me back- makes it so much worse.
“That’s not fair,” I say, and my voice shakes.
“Fair.” She laughs, and it’s a terrible sound, all edges. “You are the second person in my lifetime to say that word to me, through that same trembling little mouth. I have no use for fair. I have use for STRONG. Harden your mind. Harden your body. Stop reaching for me with your grief and your panic and your bleeding-heart need to save every dying thing you trip over. Become a
