I didn’t want him to go.

  And I didn’t want him to stay.

  Both thoughts burned in my chest at the same time, twisting together until I couldn’t tell which one frightened me more.

  “Tavari.”

  Matt’s voice pulled me back. He stood near the doorway with Sarah and Serena close beside him. Stephen stood just behind Matt, close enough that their shoulders brushed. When Matt spoke, Stephen’s hand found his without looking, fingers tightening briefly—quiet reassurance.

  “You can’t refuse him,” Matt said. “The Watcher is dangerous.”

  Stephen nodded once. “No one disobeys him and lives.”

  Serena folded her arms. “If he’s lying—if he’s not really sent by the Watcher—”

  “We’ll burn him alive,” Sarah finished. “We promise.”

  Fire stirred under my skin, restless.

  I looked toward the stranger.

  He leaned casually against the wall, calm and unreadable, watching me like my answer had already been decided.

  “…Fine,” I said. “I’ll go.”

  I turned to face him. “I’ll go to the Tower.”

  His smile deepened—not sharp, not victorious. Patient.

  “Good,” he said softly.

  Then, as if this were nothing more than a casual thought,

  “I’m hungry.”

  Matt blinked. Stephen frowned slightly, instinctively shifting closer to him.

  A moment later, Matt returned from the kitchen with a bowl of plain rice. No relish. No extras.

  “Sorry,” Matt said stiffly. “We’re poor. Orphans. This is all we have.”

  The stranger looked at the bowl, then at us.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “Let’s eat together.”

  “No,” Stephen said immediately.

  “We don’t know you,” Matt added, his fingers tightening around Stephen’s.

  “We’ll eat outside,” Stephen finished.

  We sat beneath the open sky. Stephen stayed close to Matt, their knees touching as they shared the same bowl. When the stranger glanced at them, Stephen shifted subtly—protective without meaning to be. Sarah and Serena whispered to each other. I tried not to stare at him.

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  I failed.

  Even sitting still, he felt too present.

  After eating, he stood. “I’m done.”

  We went back inside.

  The house was small. One room for the girls. The rest of us slept in the sitting area.

  I assumed he’d take the floor.

  Instead, he lay down on my sleeping space.

  “That’s mine,” I snapped.

  He looked at me calmly. “Then sleep.”

  Anger flared. I lay down beside him with my back turned, rigid and tense.

  Across the room, Matt and Stephen lay close together on the floor. Their foreheads touched as they whispered too softly for me to hear. Stephen brushed his thumb gently across Matt’s cheek—a small, silent promise in the dark.

  Something tightened in my chest.

  I turned away.

  But my body betrayed me.

  The stranger’s breathing was slow. Heavy. Warm.

  Too warm.

  Heat pressed against my side, steady and alive. My fire shifted uneasily, confused—drawn to something it didn’t understand.

  I stared at the wall until sleep finally claimed me.

  Morning light brushed my face.

  I reached out—

  Nothing.

  I sat up sharply.

  He was already outside.

  Waiting.

  Matt, Stephen, and the twins joined me quickly. Stephen’s hand lingered at Matt’s wrist as we stepped out, tension thick in the air. The stranger stood at the edge of the road like he’d been there forever.

  We started walking.

  After a few steps, I stopped.

  “Wait.”

  He turned.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  For a brief moment—just a flicker—something ancient moved behind his eyes.

  “Nuru,” he answered.

  The name settled deep in my chest, heavy and wrong.

  We continued toward the Tower.

  And with every step, I felt it more clearly—

  Matt and Stephen walked hand in hand behind me, something real and fragile anchoring them to this world.

  And beside me walked someone who felt like he had never truly belonged to it at all.