Rome was quieter after midnight.
The kind of quiet that wrapped around your ribs and squeezed, reminding you that even the strongest hearts could ache in silence.
Nova stood alone in Cassia’s nursery, watching her daughter sleep.
Cassia’s tiny fingers twitched in her dreams, curled into fists, then opened like petals.
Liam used to say she was born with fire in her bones.
Tonight, Nova believed him.
But she also believed the fire came at a cost.
And she was ready to pay it.
The pendant Adelaide had given her, her mother’s pendant, sat heavily against her skin.
She hadn’t taken it off since the bridge.
She traced the familiar design: a phoenix wrapped in vines, etched into gold. But now, she has noticed something she never had before.
Tiny letters carved beneath the feathers.
Lat
