After a minute of silence, Evangeline took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet. She looked down at the toy-sized houses and ant-like people below. "The view from up here really is beautiful," she said, her voice soft.


    She spread her arms wide, letting the wind rush through her fingers. It felt clean, invigorating. She closed her eyes for a moment.


    Suddenly, the ground vanished beneath her.


    A jolt of pure panic shot through her. Her eyes flew open to find that Finn had silently risen to his feet and swept her up into his arms, holding her high above the ledge.


    "Finn?" she gasped, her voice trembling. She was too terrified to struggle. "Put me down."


    Seeing the raw fear in her eyes, Finn couldn''t help butugh. "The view is beautiful, but it''s also dangerous."


    He looked at her pointedly. "You can''t be like this, Evangeline. How can you stand in such a high ce with absolutely no defenses up?"


    Evangeline was speechless.


    He gently ced her back on the solid ground of the rooftop.


    She immediately scrambled a few steps away from the edge.


    Watching her, Finn''s lips curved into a smile. He reached out and soothingly ruffled her hair. "But I have to admit, the fact that you trust me makes me very happy."


    His voice dropped to a low, serious tone. "So, from now on, no matter how high you want to climb, I''ll help you get there. And I''ll be right beside you to protect you."


    Evangeline shot him a re.


    "Ha," she scoffed, turning on her heel and stalking away.


    "Are you really mad?" Finn called, hurrying after her.


    She marched toward the hotel door, ignoring himpletely. Mad didn''t even begin to cover it.


    "It was just a joke!" he said, catching up to her.


    "That''s your idea of a joke?" she snapped, the residual fear making her voice sharp. "What if you hadn''t held on tight enough? What if I''d panicked and struggled, and you''d dropped me?"


    "That wouldn''t have happened," he said calmly. "I had a firm grip. I was sure of it."


    "But what if?!"


    "Then I would have jumped with you."


    She stopped, stunned into silence.


    "We would have died on the same day, in the same ce," he continued, a strange lightness in his voice. "A double suicide. Whoever found our bodies would probably write bads about our tragic love."


    She stared at him, at aplete loss for words.


    "I''m sorry," he said, his tone finally softening.


    In the end, Evangeline couldn''t stay angry with him. But he had a point. She did need to be more guarded around him.


    After they had both showered and changed, they went downstairs for breakfast. Finn asked her where she was heading next.


    Evangeline had nned to go back to her apartment to get a fresh set of clothes. Even though she hadn''t drunk much, the smell of the club still clung to her. But after Soren''s callst night, she wasn''t sure if he''d actually show up there. She wanted to avoid any unnecessary contact with him until they sorted out the Fawkes family shares.


    As she was debating what to do, her phone buzzed with two new messages. She opened it and saw they were from Soren.


    [Sorry, Evangeline. Soren was with me at the office all night.]


    [He was exhausted. He probably won''t be able to make it to your ce.]


    It wasn''t explicitly stated, but Evangeline knew instantly that Poppy had sent the messages from Soren''s phone. When she didn''t reply, another message came through this time, an image.