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“But you don’t want this!”

“No, I don’t, but I need to try to accept it.”

“But—”

“Please,” Amber cut her off. “Don’t make this harder on me than it needs to be.”

Rose sighed. “All right, I’ll try. Then what can I do for you?”

“I don’t know. Right now, I think I just want to mourn.”

She nodded. “Do you want me to stay, or do you want some space?”

“I think I just want to be alone right now.”

“Are you sure?”

Truthfully, she wasn’t. All she wanted was to go see Christopher and beg him to help find a way out of this, but she couldn’t do that.

She cared about him far too much to put him any more at risk.

So she forced herself to nod. “I’m sure. I think I’m just going to try and take a nap.”

“All right,” Rose hesitated a moment more, “if you’re sure.”

“I already said I am.”

“Don’t hesitate to call me if you change your mind.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

Rose shot her one last look then made her way from the room. Alone, Amber collapsed to lay on the bed with a groan.

For a long time, she just laid there, wallowing in self-pity, but she was interrupted far too soon.

Amber sighed, pushing to her feet. It was probably Simon coming to summon her for dinner.

“What?” she snapped, only to come face to face with Christopher. When she saw him, she sobered. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“We can’t. What if someone sees us?”

“Then we should go find somewhere to talk. Take a walk with me.”

“I can’t. I?—”

But he had already grabbed her hand and started dragging her down the hallway.

They came to a stop a little way down the hallway.

“What happened, Amber?” he asked. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

She looked away. “I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“Really?” he scowled. “So, you’ve just been walking away anytime I get close for fun?”

She looked away.