KNOX’S POV
“I said I’m not doing this, Rayana.”
“And I said we should have turned the plane around and you didn’t listen to that either.” She pulls her knees up, mirroring my position, two people sitting in a haunted hallway like children who’ve been sent to their rooms. “You’re doing exactly what your father did. You know that, right? Alexei pushed away everyone who tried to love him. Your mother tried to save him and he locked her in this house. I tried to love you and you walled me out until I ran. Celeste tried and you—”
“Don’t say her name.”
“Celeste tried and you refused to give her the one thing she needed and she broke under the weight of being loved by a man who couldn’t love back without conditions, and now you are doing the exact same thing with Ember. Stonewalling and pushi
