Clinging to Ashes

Gideon stood in the middle of the ruins. When his eyes fell on the charred, barely recognizable violin, a chill of emptiness seized his chest. He almost forgot to breathe.

That violin was the gift he had given Gemma for her eighteenth birthday party.

He remembered that night vividly. Gemma descended the stairs, wearing a white evening gown and a sparkling diamond tiara, her makeup perfect, on Howa