Annie's POV:
Raw, aching, barely-contained grief. The kind that came from watching someone you loved walk toward danger and knowing you couldn't stop them. The kind that came from knowing that the last words you'd spoken to them had been cruel.
Jasper must have felt her gaze, because he turned. For a moment, the two siblings just looked at each other across the distance. No words, no gestures, just a look that held the weight of fifteen years.
Then Jasper walked toward her.
I couldn't hear what they said. They were too far away, and the noise of the assembly drowned out everything. But I watched Jasper reach out and pull Elena into a brief, fierce embrace. One arm around her shoulders, his chin resting on top of her head for just a second.
Elena's hands came up, gripping the front of
