"Timing is the cruelest game."
They stayed like that for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Silver's breathing had finally steadied, her tears drying on her cheeks. Eli's arms remained solid around her, his chin resting on top of her head. The courtyard was still and quiet, the stone walls creating a pocket of peace in the chaos of the night.
Silver was just starting to feel like maybe she could face tomorrow when footsteps echoed across the cobblestones.
Fast footsteps. Purposeful.
She pulled back from Eli slightly, her body tensing. "Someone's coming."
"Ignore them. They'll pass by."
But the footsteps didn't pass by. They got louder, closer, until a figure appeared in the archway leading into the courtyard.
Americus.
Still in her ice blue dress, though she'd thrown a Yale Hockey jacket over it that definitely wasn't hers. Her hair was slightly disheveled, her heels clicking sharply against the stone as she strode toward them.
