Ryn stood outside the tree that concealed Vi’s home, unaccustomed to the nerves chewing at his insides. If this didn’t work—if he couldn’t convince her how much she really meant to him—it might actually break his heart. It wasn’t a position he’d ever found himself in before. It was silly next to the high-stakes matters he often ended up involved in as a guardian. It was silly next to all the information Vi’s dad had piled on top of him and Vi the other night. It didn’t feel silly, though. Right now, it felt like it mattered more than anything else in the world.
feelSo he took a deep breath and knocked against the tree, bracing himself for the flood of anger that might soon be coming his way. Then he held Vi’s gift behind his back. It wasn’t long before a portion of the tree rippled and va
