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It was her favorite place--had been even before Scarlet had lived there She always felt at ho of mind control and manipulation They didn’t care if she was beautiful or if she was the queen’s stepdaughter or if she was goingan episode of madness inside these walls, surrounded by her friends Here, she was calmer Here, she could pretend that she was in control of her own senses

She tucked an unruly curl behind her ear and moved away from the door She passed the chilled ho his face behind a bristled tail The next cage held acubs On the opposite side of the e eyes open as Winter passed

She spotted Ryu’s enclosure ahead, but hein his den, as the as nowhere to be seen Then there was Scarlet, the one creature in the erie that was not made up of all-white fur or feathers, and she wore the distinction with defiance in her red hair and the hooded sweatshirt she never took off despite the hu with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the flowering e

She startled as Winter came closer

"Hello, friend" Winter knelt in front of Scarlet’s cage

"Hello, crazy," said Scarlet It sounded like an endearhtfully She’d been so distracted she’d hardly been paying attention to the walls "Not as bloody as usual," she deter" Scarlet pulled her curls to one side Her hair was dark with grease and gri the fiery redness that had once reht since her captivity Winter felt a pang of guilt She should have brought a snack

Scarlet’s gaze raked over Winter with a tinge of suspicion, taking in the fluttery dress that sparkled a bit more than usual "You look…" She paused "Never ether "Jacin asked me to meet him here"

Scarlet nodded, unsurprised "Yeah, he cao" She tilted her chin toward the path "He went that way"

Winter stood again, knees shaking Why was she nervous? This was Jacin, who had seen her covered in ed her wounds when she got a scrape, who had held her when the visions were closing in, his whispers dragging her back to reality

But so had been different when he asked her to meet him here

For once, he see what it could ination always pulled her back to one possibility, one glittering hope

He was going to tell her that he loved her He didn’t want to pretend anymore, despite the politics, despite her step her

She shivered

"Thank you," sheher skirt, she headed down the path

"Winter?"

She paused Scarlet was clutching the bar nearest her face "Be careful"

Winter cocked her head "What do you mean?"

"I know you like him I know you trust hi Scarlet "If you insist," she said, turning away

She spotted him as soon as she’d rounded the corner of Ryu’s enclosure Jacin was standing on a bridge that overlooked thewaterfalls A family of six sas clustered beneath hi his uniforuard His hair was so pale in the ined he was one of Levana’s aniht away as Jacin looked up His expression was dark and her giddiness faded So this was not a ro after all Of course it wasn’t It never was

This disappointment did not, however, chase away the fantasy of how badly she wanted hied walls and kiss her until she could think of nothing else

She cleared her throat and came to stand beside hi him with her shoulder as he emptied the bread fro her back "The hness"

"Yes, and the doors will be locking in five lanced over his shoulder "You’re right I suppose it is clandestine"