The pendant burned against my chest like a second heart.
For three days, I'd been trying to do what my mother said—broadcast its signal, reach out to other hybrids, wake them from their hiding. But nothing happened. No responses. No new arrivals. Just silence and the growing weight of failure.
"It's not working," I said, slumping against the library wall. Sol and Aria watched me with worried eyes. "I'm doing something wrong."
"Maybe you're trying too hard." Aria approached cautiously, like I was a wild animal. "When you saved me, you weren't trying. You were just... being you. Maybe the signal works the same way."
"Being me isn't a strategy."
"It's the only strategy that's worked so far."
I wanted to argue, but she wasn't wrong. Every victory I'd achieved—the alliance with Sasha's pa
