I ran downstairs, grabbed my coat, and jumped into the car. His dad flew out the door in a rage when he heard the roar of the engine in the street. We laughed as we drove to an abandoned parking lot where I could practice without disrupting anyone. That time, I had also hit the brake too soon, throwing us forward against our seat belts. It was as if it had been a premonition of what would happen to Bryan only a few weeks later. My parents lectured me for two hours when we got home, but it had been worth it to spend the afternoon with him. I didn’t know then how little time I had left with him.

“Avery!” My dad frantically called my name. “Avery! Are you all right?” His dark-brown eyes were filled with concern, and his voice sounded like he genuinely cared about my well-being.

Only then did I noticed that the car had stopped at the side of the road and there were three pairs of eyes staring at me. I swallowed back my tears. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” His parental concern was gone in a flash, his face instantly returning to normal. We moved again.

Hearing him clicking his tongue, I knew I would hear about this later when Kris wasn’t around. He would somehow find a way to make this my fault. I could feel my dad’s stare as he watched me like a hawk in the rearview mirror, but I pretended not to notice. Outside the window, I could see the mountain range coming into view, the landscape becoming more and more forested as we traveled closer to Denali. Now, just like Kris, but for very different reasons, I couldn’t wait for this journey to be over.

Chapter Three

This was it. I would finally see inside the Court, home of Queen Christoulakis and all the Hellenicus relics we’d learned about at school. Kris, who had been coming here forever—her family’s ancestral residence was here, and she had lived at Court until she was ten—tried to answer my millions of questions. But seeing it firsthand was the only thing that would truly satisfy my curiosity.