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The group of lost teenagers approached Evan and Delos, their faces exhausted and sweaty.

The girl in baggy pants had her eyes lowered to the ground, long dark hair falling over her shoulders to cover most of her face, but her guard was completely up. The tension of her raised shackles reached Evan, and his eyebrow quirked.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the boy holding the map pushed his glasses up his nose, his tanned skin glistening in the sun as he smiled. “But we seem to have lost our way—”

“Oh my God, you were right!” Pink-hair poked her head in between the two guys’ shoulders, ridiculously short even in her baby-pink platform heels. “That Blackwood face card doesn’t disappoint.”

Delos peeked around Evan’s arm with a curious look as Evan impassively stared at the group. “Do I know you?”

Spectacles tried to speak, but Pink-hair interrupted again, her fluffy hair bouncing around her face as she scurried forward, almost shoving herselfthroughEvan as she grinned up at him. “I’m Elysia,” she pointed towards spectacles. “This is Nick,” then at the other boy who was quiet and engrossed in his phone. “Wren,” And the girl who refused to meet Evan’s eyes. “Rumi.”

“I’m Delos,” came a prompt from beside Evan.

“And I still don’t recall us meeting before,” Evan said, eyeing everyone with a wary look.

Just then the silent boy—Wren—muttered, “Celie’s friends.”

At that, Evan’s caution cracked, crumbled, and scattered away. He blinked before the meaning of those words dawned on him.

Celie’s friends.

Celie.

A small but rare smile drew his lips up, portraying just a fragment of his entire handsomeness. But little as it was, Pink-hair’s—and Nick’s—cheeks flushed as they gaped at him.

Wren cleared his throat.

Rumi counted the dust particles on her shoes.

“I’m sorry for the rude introduction,” Evan straightened, offering his most subtly pleasant expression. “I’m Evan Blackwood. Celie’s older brother.”

“Not at all. We were the ones who—” Nick glared at Elysia, who was still smiling sweetly up at Evan.

“Did you say you were lost?” Delos asked.

As if the group had just noticed his presence, all eyes turned to him. The wind blew through his silver strands, fluttering over his eyelids and brilliant blue eyes brimming with a friendly sparkle. That off-white shirt and pants looked like they were weaved with illuminating fibers. If he’d been mistaken for a Renaissance painting, no one could blame the observer.

Elysia’s flush deepened.

Nick’s jaws unhinged.

“We were,” Wren said, when the two orators of the groups remained dumbstruck.

Evan frowned. “How did you get lost? I thought Aaron—my friend—was picking you all up from the station.”

Nick quickly regained his composure and rubbed his nape, looking embarrassed. “Ah, about that…”

There were no stations in Emberlyn. After landing in the city airport and taking a train to the nearest station, the five friends had met Aaron waiting outside. Once their luggage wascrammed into his car, there was just enough room for Celie and Aaron to squeeze in. Reassuring them that another car was on the way, they’d driven off.

But even after an hour of waiting, no car had come to pick them up.

“We waited for a long time, then took a cab here. But the driver refused to take us beyond the town bridge,” Nick said, wiping his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief, flashing an awkward smile at Evan.

That was no surprise. Some outsiders believed Emberlyn was a hotspot for ghosts and guardian spirits that protected the land against intruders. Cabs from Emberlyn went all the way to the city, but those from the city rarely crossed the bridge into town.

Had Aaron forgotten to send them a car?

“We tried to reach Celie, but her phone is switched off.”