EMBER’S POV
“Nate, no.” Queenie sounds horrified now, her crying sharper. “We can’t use that. That would destroy them. You know it would.”
“And that is exactly where they need to be.” Nathaniel’s voice drops, almost gentle, which somehow makes it worse. “Apart. Safe. Away from each other before this thing between them becomes something none of us can contain.”
“You can’t decide that for them—”
“Have you forgotten?” The gentleness vanishes. “Have you forgotten the blood I scrubbed out of that floor for weeks? The bodies I had to bury before anyone could find out who—” He stops himself, then takes a breath. “The way Knox looked when he came back to himself. What it cost to keep that night from destroying everything.”
“This is different. Ember isn’t Celeste—”
“No. She’s worse.” Nathanie
