The night air was cold, sharper than usual, and it stung against my cheeks as I stepped outside. The moon hung high, pale and distant, bathing the garden in silver light. Every instinct told me not to go there. Damon's words still echoed in my head like a warning I shouldn't heed. If you were really Ember…
I should have stopped but my feet didn't listen. They moved on their own, carrying me down the stone path that stretched behind the castle. Each step sounded too loud in the silence. My heart thudded with the rhythm of guilt, fear, and something else I couldn't name.
Maybe he was testing me. Maybe he was waiting in the shadows, watching to see if I'd reveal myself. I knew it, and still, I couldn't stop. If what he said was true, if Caroline and Lydia really were buried there, then walking away would have been the cruelest thing I could ever do.
