POV: Lyra
I'm the only one who understands what Aphrodite just lost.
I watch them enter the ruins. Aphrodite and Kai walking through wards that reject wolves but allow humans, the ancient magic crackling like distant thunder across my skin. The twins forced to stay behind, helpless despite all their strength. Every muscle in their bodies coiled tight. Cassian and Bastien flanking them, ready to charge through burning magic if Aphrodite needs them.
But it's not physical danger waiting inside those ruins. It's truth. History. The kind of knowledge that changes everything you thought you knew about yourself.
I've seen that look before. On Aphrodite's face years ago when she realized no one in Nightfang would ever see her as anything but lesser. When she understood her suffering wasn't temporary or correctable. When hope died and survival became the only goal. The light in her eyes had dimmed that day, replaced by something harder.
