I stood there, the cold wind biting into my skin, my breath shallow as I stared at Elias. My mentor. My father figure. The one who had raised me, who had promised me that I was doing the right thing, that I was part of something greater.
But the lies. The lies were suffocating me now.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I asked, my voice hoarse from the hours of swallowing back tears. “Why didn’t you warn me about what I really am?”
Elias looked at me, his face filled with something I couldn’t read—guilt, regret, sorrow? It didn’t matter now. The weight of his betrayal crushed me.
“Nina,” he began, his voice low, steady. “You weren’t ready. I couldn’t risk it. Not when you were so young. The prophecy...”
“The prophecy,” I repeated, almost laughing in disbelief. “You’ve been manipulati
