POV: Ember.
The wind had changed. It always did after someone left Raven’s Peak—quiet at first, then restless. Ember stood by the studio window, arms folded, watching the dust settle in the lane long after the truck was gone. Her sister had hugged her tightly. Jayke hadn’t. They’d both said they’d call.
Asher leaned in the doorway behind her, quiet as usual, though she could feel the weight of his presence like gravity.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” She turned from the window. “Feels like a knot I didn’t know I had just got pulled tighter.”
He gave her a look—gentle, a little sad. Then gestured toward the laptop on the workbench. “You still didn’t check who bought the photo?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to know. I thought if it stayed anonymous, I could pretend it was
