“Enough. We can’t do this,” Vincent says hoarsely. He needs to draw a line and end this before he dies a second time. It’s just so hard to stay away from you. You’re smart as a whip with a beautiful laugh, and sometimes he feels like his heart’s falling faster than his brain can catch up. Worst of all is that you can’t seem to stay away from each other and he sees far too many echoes of Lucrecia in you.

Vincent swallows hard and takes a step back, his cloak swishing as he moves. Every fibre of his body wants nothing more than to reach for you, but he can’t. He shouldn’t. “You need to stop coming around me,” he says harshly, hoping to deter you, to push you away before it’s too late.