Vincent vanished, no doubt to soak in more of the full moon, and I tried to dart past my father and up to my room. No such fortune.

“Aurelie, there you are.” Braun Favian Kendrick stood with hair as light as mine in the candlelight and green eyes to match. “Are you returning alone? Where is Vincent?”

I looked out to the moon’s magic spilling in through our open windows. Vincent was among the trees. Already I envied him.

“Did you find the books you hoped for? Sam said he would ask you to accompany him to the library at the Tower Estate?”

I smacked one of our silver candelabras to the floor. When the little flame caught on the edge of the woven tapestry that lined the staircase, I stomped it with the sole of my boot until my ankle threatened to give way.

My father’s eyes widened. “What on earth happened, Twilight? I haven’t seen you in such a state since we brought Rosemary home from the market.”

I threw my hands in the air. A broken candelabra was not enough. It was not justice. It was not wrong things made right. It was only a meritless object that would have to be replaced with my father’s inheritance.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his blond brows furrowing over his stately nose.

Why did every man suspect some injury in me? Why did they never think, perhaps, that my distress was on behalf of another? That I could be noble? That I could be capable enough to care for my own wounds and daring enough to care for someone else’s as well?

A knock on our front door, though Sam did not wait to be let in. He knew better, for we did not keep pyres standing at attention to greet guests at any moment of every day as was the trend for most Lykke elites.

“Heavens, Aurelie, you are indeed home safe,” Sam said, pacing and trying to catch his breath. His cheeks and neck flared red, even in the cold. “I raced here with such anxiety, I almost ran the horse and carriage clean off the road.”

It was not my fault Sam did not know how to maneuver a horse and carriage. Yet here he was, anticipating an apology. I stared squarely at him.

Sam, seeing that he could get nowhere with me, appealed to my father. “Braun Kendrick, I had every intention of escorting Aurelie safely to and from the Tower Estate this night. I could not fathom nor dream that she had other plans for her own well-being.”

My father adjusted his shoulders in his dark, clean-cut suit. “Sam. As you well know, my daughter is an entire person, blessed by God with legs and arms and a working mind, sharper than yours or mine. You may have been under the illusion that she was under your care, but I assure you that you were under hers.”