The City That Never Fell
Aria’s heart pounded.
The woman before her, barely an hour removed from death, smiled with such heartbreaking tenderness that Aria’s breath caught in her throat.
She was beautiful.
Dark hair the same as Aria’s, a stubborn jaw like Aria’s, and eyes as intelligent and sharp as Aria’s. But this woman’s eyes held centuries of unfathomable sadness, and an ethereal glow of silver light that sent shivers down Aria’s spine.
“My… mother?”
The woman nodded.
“My name is Elara Ashbourne.”
The words struck something deep and raw within Aria’s chest. Twenty-three years of a thousand imagined conversations unraveled in an instant.
A lifetime of hoping, of longing, of grief and pain crashed down upon her like an avalanche.
Aria’s breath hitched.
No.
Her head shook viol
