The moment she finished speaking, everything inside me went still.
Not quiet.
Still.
Like the world had pressed pause on motion, breath, thought—everything except awareness.
Rylan’s hand was on my arm.
I could feel it.
But it felt far away.
Like I was underwater listening to someone call my name from above the surface.
“Lyra,” he said sharply. “Look at me.”
I tried.
I really did.
But something else was looking through me now.
The woman at the edge of the courtyard hadn’t moved.
She didn’t need to.
Her presence was enough to bend attention toward her.
Aria stepped forward immediately.
“Stop speaking to her,” she said sharply.
The woman tilted her head slightly.
“You still think there is a separation,” she said calmly.
Aria’s jaw tightened.
“There was supposed to be.”
A
