‘Haven’t you noticed?’ Lottie needed to talk about something, anything else – anything to get her mind off Jamie and his mother. ‘She can barely look at me recently. Not since I made the choice to cut off my family. I know she’s been blaming herself for everything, and I’ve tried to tell her it’s fine. I don’t understand why she’s locking me out like this –’

‘Your father,’ Jamie interrupted, giving her a pointed look.

‘What?’

‘You said you cut off your family, but I thought you said your father wasn’t your family.’

Confused, Lottie felt her brows crease, sure that Jamie must have misheard her.

‘I’m sure I said –’

‘I wish you’d give yourself a break,’ Jamie said, interrupting again. ‘This should be a big deal for you, researching your mother’s ancestor. Liliana, Tufty, Rosewood, this is who you are. It could be your whole future.’

Flinching, Lottie struggled not to look away, but knew that would only make Jamie press her more. ‘Since when are you so encouraging about discussions about family?’

It was a low blow, and Lottie instantly regretted it.

To her surprise, Jamie’s face twisted painfully. ‘I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.’ Shaking his head, he picked up another book.

Something about his expression reminded her of when Binah had looked at her in the library the other day, sympathetic in a way that made her embarrassed, only Jamie’s was harsher, a little of himself leaking into it.

‘I know what I’m doing,’ she said without thinking.

‘If you know what you’re doing, then why can’t you even look at one of these books? Why can’t you concentrate on anything that doesn’t involve Ellie and her family?’

The words made her head hurt. Nothing fit right any more.

Above them an old clock ticked away, the sound of its hands turning an incessant reminder of how time was running out, and with great frustration she did the only thing she could think of.

‘Jamie, can I ask you something personal?’

‘Absolutely not,’ he scoffed. ‘You aren’t getting out of this work so easily.’

‘Please. If you answer, I’ll focus on the assignment. I promise.’

Jamie watched her fidgeting, and she tried her best to put on an innocent smile.

Sighing, he leaned back into the wall. ‘What?’

Lottie slammed her book shut, pulling herself up to sit with her hands clasped firmly in her lap until she was leaning forward towards Jamie, excited by the rare invitation to probe the Partizan and relieved to not be talking about her own family any more.

‘It’s just, I realized,’ she started, pushing her hair back to hide how awkward she felt, ‘you know every little thing about my family, and I don’t even know your parents’ names.’

Jamie blinked at her, eyebrow lifting. ‘That’s not a question.’