Lyra's POV
Lyra's lungs burned as she ran through the dark tunnel.
Her feet slipped on wet stone. Her shoulder screamed where Seraphine's ice had cut her. But she didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Because if she stopped running, she'd have to think about what just happened.
She'd have to think about Daevan.
About how the bond-fragments had sung between them like broken glass trying to fit back together. About how her chest had ached when she saw the pain in his eyes. About how for one terrible, wonderful moment, she'd wanted to stop running and let him catch her.
"Stupid," Lyra gasped, forcing herself to run faster. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
She'd worked so hard to forget him. Three years of building walls around her heart. Three years of becoming someone new—someone strong enough to survive without him. And one conversation had almost destroyed everything.
The tunnel finally opened into a narrow alley in the Lower Rings. Lyra burst out into the night air, gulping down breaths. Rain had started falling, cold and sharp against her face.
Good. Maybe it would wash away the feeling of Daevan's magic wrapping around hers. Maybe it would erase the memory of how right it had felt despite everything.
Lyra pulled her hood up and melted into the shadows. Her safe house was three streets away. Just three streets, and she'd be secure again. Safe from the Council. Safe from Seraphine. Safe from Crown Princes who still made her heart betray her.
She reached the building—a crumbling shop that sold candles on the bottom floor. Nobody looked twice at it. Nobody suspected that the Scarlet Veil lived in the tiny apartment above it, hidden in plain sight.
Lyra climbed the back stairs and reached for her door. Her hand froze.
It was unlocked.
She always locked it. Always. Which meant someone had broken in, and they might still be—
"You're late."
Lyra spun around, magic crackling to life in her palms. Then she saw who was sitting in her worn armchair by the window.
"Kaelis!" She let her magic fade. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Good. Maybe it'll match the heart attack you gave me when you didn't return on time." Kaelis stood up, and even in the darkness, Lyra could see the worry on his face. "You were supposed to be back two hours ago. I thought something had gone wrong."
"Something did go wrong." Lyra locked the door behind her and pressed her forehead against it. Her whole body trembled now that the running had stopped. "Everything went wrong."
"What happened?"
Lyra wanted to lie. Wanted to tell him it was nothing, just a difficult client, just a normal night. But her voice came out broken and small instead.
"He was there."
Silence. Then Kaelis was beside her, his hand gentle on her shoulder. "Who was there, Lyra?"
"The Crown Prince." She turned to face him, and tears she'd been holding back finally spilled over. "Daevan was at the workshop. He came for the bond-severance. He saw me. He knew it was me even with the mask."
Kaelis's eyes widened. "Did he hurt you?"
"No. Yes. I don't know." Lyra pressed her hands against her chest where the bond-scars ached. "He said he's been searching for me. Said he needed to talk. Said—" Her voice broke. "He said my name, Kaelis. He said it like it still mattered to him."
"Oh, Lyra." Kaelis pulled her into a hug, and she finally let herself fall apart. Three years of pretending she was fine. Three years of acting like her heart hadn't been ripped out and burned to ash. It all came crashing down in Kaelis's arms.
"I hate him," she sobbed. "I hate him so much. He destroyed me. He chose duty over me. He let his mother threaten me. He made me feel like I was never good enough. And now he shows up and acts like he cares?"
"I know."
"I should have let Seraphine kill him. Should have walked away and never looked back."
"But you didn't."
"Because I'm weak!" Lyra pulled away, wiping her eyes angrily. "Because part of me—some stupid, broken part—still remembers what it felt like when we were whole. When I thought he loved me as much as I loved him."
Kaelis studied her for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Lyra, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago."
Ice flooded her veins. "What do you mean?"
"I know who you are. Who you really are." Kaelis's voice was gentle but firm. "I've known since the day you showed up in the Lower Rings three years ago, half-dead from blood loss, with bond-scars fresh on your chest."
Lyra backed away from him. "How?"
"I was there the night of the engagement announcement. I saw Crown Prince Daevan destroy his own speech. Saw the pain on his face when he felt something break inside him." Kaelis met her eyes. "Then exactly three days later, a girl shows up in my shop asking to learn blood magic. A girl with fresh severance scars and eyes that looked dead inside. It wasn't hard to figure out."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Lyra's voice shook with betrayal. "Why did you let me pretend?"
"Because you needed to pretend. You needed to become someone new to survive." Kaelis stepped closer. "And I needed to make sure you'd trust me before I told you the truth. Before I gave you this."
He pulled an envelope from his pocket. Lyra recognized her sister's handwriting immediately.
"When did this arrive?" Her hands trembled as she took it.
"This morning. I was going to give it to you after your job tonight, but..." Kaelis trailed off. "Maybe you should read it now."
Lyra tore open the envelope. Mira's familiar, cheerful handwriting filled the page:
Dearest Lyra,
I'm getting married! Can you believe it? His name is Torin, and he's wonderful and kind and he makes me laugh every day. The wedding is in two weeks, and I need you there. I know it's dangerous. I know you're hiding for good reasons. But please, please come home for this. It's just one day. One day where we can be sisters again.*
*If you don't come, I'll have to assume something terrible has happened. And you know me—I'll come looking for you. I'll tear apart the Lower Rings if I have to. I'll ask questions. I'll draw attention to exactly the person you're trying to protect.*
*So please. Come to my wedding. Let me see your face again. Let me know you're okay.*
*All my love,*
*Mira*
Lyra's hands shook so hard the letter fell to the floor. "No. No, no, no."
"You have to go," Kaelis said quietly. "Your sister will follow through on that threat. She'll come looking, and she'll lead every Council member straight to you."
"I can't go back to Pyrstone. The Council is hunting me. Seraphine wants me dead. And Daevan—" Her voice cracked. "I just saw him tonight. If I go to this wedding, he'll be there. The Crown Prince always attends noble weddings."
"So you'll go in disguise. You'll stay hidden in the crowd."
"You don't understand." Lyra grabbed his arm. "Mira will want me at the main table. She'll want me beside her because I'm her sister. There's no way to hide when you're sitting with the family."
Kaelis was quiet for a moment. Then his expression turned grim. "There's something else you should know. Something that arrived with the letter."
He pulled out a second piece of paper. This one was printed in formal script—a wedding invitation.
Lyra scanned it quickly. Location, date, time. Then she reached the seating arrangements at the bottom.
Her blood turned to ice.
"No," she whispered. "This can't be right."
But it was right. There in black ink, impossible to deny:
Main Table Seating:
Seat 1: Bride (Mira Embermoor)
Seat 2: Groom (Torin Ashford)
Seat 3: Crown Prince Daevan
Seat 4: Lyra Embermoor
She'd be sitting directly beside him. For the entire wedding. Close enough to touch. Close enough that the bond-fragments would scream between them all night long.
"He did this on purpose," Lyra said, her voice hollow. "He manipulated the seating arrangements. He's forcing me to sit beside him."
"Maybe," Kaelis agreed. "Or maybe it's just terrible luck."
"There's no such thing as luck this bad." Lyra crumpled the invitation in her fist. "He's trying to trap me. Trying to force proximity so I can't run again."
"So what are you going to do?"
That was the question, wasn't it? Go to the wedding and face Daevan. Or stay away and let Mira come looking for her—putting her baby sister in danger.
No choice at all, really.
"I'll go," Lyra said finally. "But I'm going armed. And if Daevan tries anything—if he thinks he can manipulate me into talking to him—I'll make him regret ever searching for me."
Kaelis nodded slowly. "There's one more thing."
"What now?"
"The invitation has a note on the back. Written in different handwriting than the rest."
Dread pooled in Lyra's stomach as she uncrumpled the paper and flipped it over.
The message was short. Written in bold, aggressive script that could only belong to one person:
I know what you did tonight. I know you tried to kill Veyra and failed. Run if you want—I'll find you anyway. But if you care at all about your sister's safety, you'll show up to this wedding and answer my questions.
We need to talk, Lyra. And this time, you won't walk away.
—D
Lyra's hands shook as she stared at the note. He knew. Daevan knew she'd gone after the Grand Matriarch. Knew she'd declared war on the Council.
And now he was using Mira to force her into the open.
"What does it say?" Kaelis asked.
Lyra looked up at him, and for the first time since she'd severed the bond three years ago, she felt truly afraid.
"It says I walked right into a trap," she whispered. "And the only way out is throu