“What is he doing, Garret?” Ember whispered, closing her eyes. “I keep going over that email in my mind, from every possible angle, and coming to the same conclusion. I thought I knew him. I thought Talon was just deceiving him, lying to him like they do to everyone else. I was sure that if Dante really understood what they were about, what they really did, he would never have stayed with them. But...” She opened her eyes, and her expression was tortured, making my insides knot. “If he was involved with the cover-up, then he knew what was going on, what Talon was doing. He knew that they...killed everyone there, massacred an entire community like it was nothing.” She curled her fingers around the quartz again, making a fist. “What’s happened to you, Dante?” she whispered, and her voice was almost accusing. “How could you have been a part of that? Dammit, if I ever see you again, what am I supposed to do now?”

“Ember.” Reaching out, I gently pulled her against me, wrapping my arms around her. She was quiet, curled up against my side, the hand that clutched the quartz trapped between us.

“I thought I could save him,” she whispered at last. “I wanted, so badly, for him to be with us. I thought that if I could just make him see what Talon is really like...” She trailed off, pressing her face to my chest, making my heart thump in my ears. I said nothing, just holding her, feeling the heat pulse between us, until she let out a ragged sigh and drew back. “I guess I was fooling myself,” she went on, her voice harder now. “He’s one of them now. I think I’ve always known, especially after what happened in Vegas. Dante has always been one hundred percent Talon. I just didn’t want to believe it.”

“Don’t give up just yet,” I told her, running a thumb over her cheek, making her blink at me. “I know it feels like he’s betrayed you, and now it’s us against him and Talon. But you can’t lose faith that, someday, you’ll be able to make him see the truth. That he’ll realize what he’s doing, what the organization is really about, and he’ll leave. Turn his back on the entire thing.”

“I don’t know, Garret.” Ember half closed her eyes, circling my wrist with her fingers. “How long can I keep hoping? How long can I afford to believe that he’ll somehow just abandon everything Talon has taught him?” She sighed, running her palm down my arm, making my skin tingle. “I know how stubborn Dante is. And now, he’s further within the organization than ever before.” She shook her head. “I don’t know him anymore, Garret. Even if I could get to him, could I ever change his mind?”

“You changed mine.”