rl was

The other

es. A faint shimmer along her collarbone

uched her. Or som

was there, humming just beneath the skin.

ot the way I did. Her focus was o

keep you alive

n't know

wo

-

e steady, but her eyes darted too fast. Watching shadows t

lling her," I

me. "She just got b

the same. Y

's a

r n

eren't gold, but they were cl

't kno

re ly

ay

nger would carry her furt

," Reyna said. "She did

er did

s diff

's

her the truth - that everything touching Jez now was a ripple from her

-

l asleep, Reyna cam

cracked b

shivering

not th

what i

ws it's been opened. Ev

owed her," Reyna added.

eyes. "It

used m

hey can't form their own. They

k it was

memory," I said.

. "The woman

elw

d. "You kno

eard it

m wh

turn with her face and her rage. Sai

he fire. "She didn'

was

-

've been

na. Of wha

o be extinct. Erased. Turned

that blood doesn't forget

ed me more th

helped bur

-

r her breath. I caught fragments - names I didn't recognize. Words

ike the so

protection,

m wh

ever's wak

e ready to choose between sa

Why do you always assu

olves don'

t get

and su

r head. "Tha

st time someone dies for you and

ned to you?" she as

n't a

-

a mate. Not a bond. Just someone who made the weight easier to c

d me not

't mourn,

s mov

didn'

took the punishment without complaint. That's how you

ood at

l Re

-

fight this alone,

d

ou cho

he same

it's

ght. But beneath the weight, something was blooming -

sn't b

as mo

to leave here

kno

l come

nt th

I'll start teaching

wn, eyes blood

re we were. Didn't

ooked at m

into me. And it l

Reyna'

t wasn't

ither