lways come easy. He kept his face blank, determined not to let Clara sense anything. He fo

d free, shaking her

ipped. Clara, using too much force as she pulled away, stumbled backward

fall, but Clara, panicked and convinced he onl

ll, Declan's foot struck the cake on the

her voice catching as she

mashed cake. The memory hit hi

et washed over him. He turned away from her, his voic

, her arms hugging herself as a c

asses just so he could make her birthday cakes from scratch. N

not like th

old school pencil cases, her favorite clothes, the crafts she'd made, and every award she'd ever earned.

he finest wood he could find. The sign hung above the villa's entrance

ver the smallest things. Even a strand of Clara

red, Clara wondered if a

root inside her, overwhelmi

g for more, and with that came the sting

ding shivers through Clara's whole body. She

ce, her steps hollow as she drifted down the pat

clan any longer. She feared that if she lingered,

l she left the cemetery. The instant she reached the gat

e cut through th

was underwater. Even if she wanted to r

ht, and for a moment, he nearly dropped to his knees. Panic drove him forward.

rely spared a glance at the man wh

nd unmoved while the wind howled around him. Not once did he flinc

ream, she found herself teetering on the edge of

lan's gaze cut through her. "Clar

most too much to bear. She watched helplessly as Declan g

orld spinning away and Declan's face growing more dist

g?" she cried out, her voice raw and desperate, the metal

u need to wake up. Calm down, Clara!" Alan's grip tightened on

oose fabric, her face ghostly pale. Blood poole

her murmur Declan's name, torn between

mallest things, light and bright as sunshine. N

so little deserve

n and again, breaking her spirit wi

ion as a doctor and nurses hurried int

r, will she be all right?" He watched the nurse inject