The ruins seemed to hold their breath.
Lena stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the three hybrids before her. They were young—younger than Mira, even. The smallest couldn't have been more than fifteen. Their eyes were empty, their faces blank, their bodies still as statues.
"What did you do to them?" Lena's voice shook with barely controlled fury.
"Nothing they didn't already have done." Lilith circled the hybrids like a proud collector displaying prizes. "Fear. Isolation. Despair. They were already broken when I found them. I just... shaped the pieces."
"You monster."
"Monster?" Lilith laughed. "I'm the only one who showed them kindness. The only one who gave them purpose. They *love* me, cousin."
Lena looked at the hybrids again—really looked. And beneath the emptiness, she saw it. Fea
