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She pumped her hands into fists at her side, eyes wild.

“Raúl tells you who you can marry, right?” I nodded.

“But we don’t do that here. We’re free to make those kinds of choices for ourselves.

If you let Sasha get away with betrothing you when she doesn’t have a right to do that, then…

how are we any better than them? Than the Telvians? ”

I started muttering to myself. “This makes zero sense to me—”

“How do you not see it?”

“See what?” I finally snapped back. I had no fuse, no emotional reserves, no bandwidth to do the mental gymnastics that Edith was trying to push out of me. ZERO. “All I see is that my brother’s life is at stake.”

“Jesus,” she muttered, running her hand through her hair before looking back at me. But this time, I didn’t see anger. I saw concern. “What about Matias? What about him and what you guys had?”

I felt all the energy dissipate from my body.

She took a step toward me, tone softening. “And what about Wes? What about what’s fair to him?”

I blinked. “What…what do you mean?”

I watched the sadness seep into Edith’s eyes as her lips tipped into a frown.

“They care about you, Mara. Can’t you see that?

They both care about you.” My chest tightened as I gasped at her words.

“Don’t you see? It totally matters whether or not Sasha has the right to promise you because she doesn’t.

You’re the only one that can choose which one of them you want to be with.

But who you choose matters because one of them is going to end up hurt. ”

I couldn’t do this. She was wrong. She was totally wrong. “First off, that’s ridiculous. Wes and I are friends. He doesn’t like me that way—”

“Oh god,” Edith snapped out, facepalming herself. “Are you freaking serious?”

Okay, I’m done . I was tired, I was hungry, and so far, my day was going down the shit tube pretty hard.

I did not need a fight with Edith right now.

“For crying out loud, Edith, what the hell is your problem? Wes and I aren’t like that, and even if we were, where the hell has Matias been, huh?

Where? We hardly talk, and when we do, it’s a couple of crappy texts!

” I started pacing, feeling the adrenaline surging within.

“And…he shot me!” I added for good measure.

Edith glared, “Oh come off it, Mara. He shot your brother—”

“Exactly! He shot my brother, Edith, my freaking brother. How would you feel if I went around and shot the people you loved?”

“Right now? Like I’d punch you in the face and then punt your ass across this field.”

“Exactly! That’s what part of me feels. And then the other part of me knows I like him, okay? I’m not in denial. I know I like him. But I’m hurt, and I’m jealous, and I’m all the crap that comes when your quasi-maybe-boyfriend-but-not-really is spending all his time with his ex-girlfriend!”

“It’s complicated, Mara,” she pushed back.

“I know that! The logical part of my brain gets it, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less!”

Edith stood silent, her arms crossed, feet shoulder width apart, and brows pinched together. She was clearly still annoyed, but she stayed quiet. And I…I suddenly felt deflated, like all the air within me had been sucked out, leaving me flat, tired, and emotionally drained.

I collapsed onto the ground, back onto my bottom, with my legs bent and my elbows resting on my knees.

“I…I don’t know what to do. And I get you think I have a choice, but in the end, I really don’t.

” I sighed heavily. “I’ve got to do everything I can to save my brother.

He gave everything up for me. It’s because of me that he’s in the tower, and it’s because he helped me that he’s going to die.

I-I can’t just abandon him. I can’t just let him die.

” I felt it. The lump forming in my throat, making it difficult for me to swallow.

“I won’t do that to him…not when I know he would never do that to me. ”

Once again, Edith stayed quiet, and the silence stretched between us.

The seconds passed, and I finally looked up to face her.

Her typically soft, angelic features now appeared chiseled out of ice as she stared down at the ground, arms still crossed.

And then she blinked, setting her gaze on me.

Her brows shifted, still furrowed but softening as she inhaled deeply through her nose.

Then she spoke gently, catching me by surprise.

“I’m sorry.” I watched her, listening intently.

“I’m sorry I got worked up, and I’m sorry if I made you mad or something.

” She drew quiet, rubbing her lips together before the look of concern swept back across her face.

“It’s just…you’re all my friends. And I just hope you don’t regret this.

I really don’t.” Silence encased us for another moment as Edith seemed to consider her next choice of words carefully.

“I don’t envy the position you’re in, Mara.

But, I’m worried someone’s going to end up hurt.

I just hope you can live with it in the end. ”

My brows knitted together as I spoke, my tone holding a bite. “What’s that supposed to be? Some sort of warning?”

She shook her head gently. “All I’m saying is, I’d think really hard about what you do next.”

Did she think I was stupid? An idiot? I knew this was something I had to tread lightly with. It wasn’t my fault that Sasha put this crap on me. “And what would you do if you were in my position? The way I see it, I’m stuck. And besides,” my voice lowered as my heart stung, “Matias made his choice.”

Edith took a step away from me toward the base. “Maybe you should talk to him about the choices he’s made.”

“Yeah? And how am I supposed to do that? Last time I checked, he was off at the Institute with not so much as a word of goodbye.”

“Well,” she said as she took more steps away from me, “last time I checked, he’s on his way back. And I’m sure as hell not going to be the one to tell him you just agreed to marry another guy.”

My jaw dropped.

Crap.