Forever means

however long we have.

 Aiden has made it home, but danger smolders below the surface of her days. Commander Hirt is imposing draconian rules on her household, and keeping the young empaths out of his grasp is burning her strength away. When ATHENA paroles Cole, Aiden is forced to face the cost of her collaboration with the Agency: Cole’s past is still holding him prisoner, and if she can’t rekindle the ashes of his trust, his self-hatred will consume him entirely. Reaching out to Cole in defiance of the Agency’s orders might take a toll much higher than her life — and yet, one last time, Aiden can’t help but try.

Embers, the New Adult finale of the Traces trilogy, asks a devastating question:

how do you love someone you cannot save?