"Say that again," Mika said, and her voice didn't sound like her own.
"You heard me the first time." Yara hadn't let go of her wrist, her grip gentle but unyielding, like she was afraid Mika might bolt if given the chance — and she wasn't wrong to think it. "Twenty-three years ago, your mother came to me in the middle of the night with a newborn and a request I never should have granted. She asked me to bind something inside you so deep that even you would forget it was there. I warned her a seal like that never holds forever. She didn't care. She was more afraid of what would happen if it woke than of what would happen if she ran."
"Ran from what?" Diego's voice was low, controlled in the way that meant he was holding something back. "You're talking about a woman who's been dead for fif
