Mira's POV
The moment the words left Cassian’s mouth, the air seemed to c***k around us. “She’s alive,” he’d said, his voice low but shaking. “Your mother…she’s not dead.”
Everything inside me froze. The wind howled through the trees, as if nature itself recoiled from the weight of the news. My knees buckled, and I grabbed the edge of the stone altar for balance.
“I…I saw her body,” I whispered, barely able to breathe. “She died in the fire. I watched--” Cassian’s hand found mine. “It was all a lie. A harsh lie. A piece of the shadows’ plan.”
My pulse pounded in my ears, blocking out every other sound. I had missed her. I had screamed for her. Her death had been the first fracture in my soul… and now he was telling me it never happened?
“Where is she?” My voice broke. “
