A month ago I took Em’s love for granted, knew that no matter what happened in the world I would always have the safe escape of my best friend. Everything felt solid then. The simplicity of my life here in Pembrook was something I could lean on, something that grounded me in the world.

She pulls back and examines me, still clutching my shoulders like I might disappear again. “You’re here. Nova, you came back,” she says.

The hurt on her face threatens to crush me; I don’t know how I’ll ever tell her that I’m not staying. “I’m here, Em, and I’m so incredibly sorry. I—”

I don’t get my full apology out because she goes from grief to fury in a split second.

“You’re sorry? That doesn’t even begin to cover it. How dare you? How dare you do that to me, November Rose Adley!” She practically spits the words at me, her voice shaking. And she pushes me so hard that I have to stand up to avoid falling on the floor.

She stands, too, and she pushes me again. “I don’t accept your apology. Do you hear me? I will never forgive you for leaving me like that. You’re my best friend. Best friends don’t…” Her words gurgle as she fights back tears.

I want to reach out to her, wrap my arms around her, and tell her that it’s over. But I just stand there, struggling to speak. “Aunt Jo was killed,” I say. Normally I wouldn’t drop information like that so suddenly. But knowing Emily, she’ll attack me again before I have a chance to get it out gently in the midst of an apology.

Her tears stop so suddenly that it’s like someone zapped her. She takes a step back, her eyes wide with horror. “What?”

“She was killed and my dad took me away,” I say, knowing she’s never going to accept such a sparse explanation. “He’s worried it might have something to do with their old jobs, something—”

“As in their jobs at the CIA?” she says, her eyes round.

“Yeah,” I lie, careful not to elaborate too much or she will figure out something is off.

She takes a few pacing steps like she’s struggling to absorb my words. And I get it. Nothing bad ever happens in Pembrook. Even after my dad told me we were in danger and shipped me off to the Academy, I didn’t really believe it until I was face to face with a dead body.

She turns to look at me, her eyebrows pushed together. “I don’t even know what…No…that’s just…Are you in danger now?”