Selene’s POV
The sky bled orange when the first scream came.
Not a warrior’s cry.
A warning.
I was halfway through sharpening my blade when Lira burst into the Hall of Stars, panting.
“They’re here,” she said.
I didn’t need to ask who.
Because I could feel her.
The false me.
The piece of the Mother I didn’t destroy—didn’t seal. She wore my voice. My scent. My face. And now, apparently, she had him.
Kade.
Not my Kade.
A version twisted by whatever was left of the Spiral. A version who had never hesitated. Never doubted. A version who had chosen her.
“I want eyes on every border,” I ordered. “She’ll come through the trees. She always liked silence.”
Lira blinked. “She?”
“She’s me,” I said softly. “Or she thinks she is.”
And tonight, I’d prove her wrong.
The outer wards lit f
