f had tried to erase it. Ivy clung to the archways, and moss crawled up the stone

id after curfew.

hadn't s

alread

-

e West Tower, glass panels streaked with age and mist, candlelight g

d-then pus

ulsed with life: vines curled across the ceiling beams, moonflowers bloomed in

e was

n his p

k t

le

rn when I st

" he said,

ask

t sure y

t sure I

omething unreadable in his eyes tonight-like the

. The door click

his place?

nodded toward the vines. "They're not supposed to grow

n ho

se they're wild.

by green and candlelight,

.. st

tween us, something tightened

-

call me her

ecause I needed to se

not a

only one

't move. Didn't o

epped f

hing in the li

I saw it in the way

ded. "No name. J

kno

lef

N

pa

I wat

ltered down through the dusty glass, brushing across his che

what that letter

t was mea

o mine. "And that

I wasn't cold. "Maybe I'

nt. Then said quietly, "They'll

ho

ls. The ones who never l

and flowering vines. There was a restless energy i

es. "You're talking a

sto

he ones who smile," I ad

r long

dn't

-

gs no one else does. About the O

sita

of something.

e. But a crack formed

e said finally. "One

barely b

didn'

able beside him-cradling it in his hands. Inside,

m once," he murmured. "An

That doesn't

does Ra

ntly, then looked at m

you," he said. "Befor

der

er si

step closer.

won't know who you're playin

ath hi

y a few fee

d like he wanted to say something else and wouldn't let him

trust me,"

oked

e," he said. "That's

-

dn't

passed betwe

ite a

et a

. awar

e were. Of wha

-

greenhouse

dn't

, damp from the morning fog, I foun

a

ket

m

t how

looked

omething. With shadows behi

n the corner, i

u're seen doesn't