POV: Mira
Lila confesses
Lila stands across from me, her eyes burning with something I can’t name—shame? Rage? Or Guilt? I can’t say. She takes a slow breath and finally says the words I never expected. “We’re cousins. My mother knew yours. They were sisters once.”
The world tilts. I blink, hard, thinking I misheard her. “What?”
Lila steps closer. “My mother was Lyra. Your mother’s younger sister. When the war broke out, they split us apart. You were protected. I was hidden.” My heart was racing in my ears. “You’ve known this all along?”
“I didn’t remember everything,” she says quickly. “But when I saw you in the fire… something clicked. Then the spirits confirmed it. And now…now I know. We’re blood, Mira.”
I stagger back, breath catching in my throat. “Why now? Why tell me now?”
“B
