"How much?" I turn to face her, and I can see her flinch at whatever she sees in my expression. "How much access to their divine magic did you gain by trading your sister's life?"
"It's not just about access. The applications could revolutionize human-Fae relations, could help bridge the gap between mortal and divine magic?—"
"Could help you become the foremost authority on goddess transformations, you mean."
The accuracy of my guess is written across her guilty face.
I stare at my sister—brilliant, ambitious Sarah who has always been everyone's favorite, everyone's first choice. The sister I've looked up to and competed with and loved desperatelydespite always feeling second-best. The sister who viewed me as acceptable collateral for her scientific advancement.
"I need to know," I say quietly, my voice hoarse from crying and shouting. "Based on your research, based on all the data you've collected—how much time do I have?"
"Maya, please, you don't want to know?—"
"How much time?" I demand, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
"If the pattern holds..." She takes a shuddering breath. "Four to six weeks from the onset of symptoms. You've been showing signs for approximately three weeks."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stagger backward, one hand flying to my throat as if I can't breathe. Three weeks. If Sarah's calculations are correct, I may have as little as one week left before the divine power kills me. One week to decide whether to return to Thorian and attempt to complete a transformation that might save or destroy me, or to stay in the human world and die slowly as the goddess magic burns through my mortal flesh.
"Thank you for your honesty," I manage to say through numb lips, my voice barely a whisper. "Finally."
"Maya, wait—where are you going?"
I'm already moving toward the door, toward the stairs that will take me away from this place of betrayal and calculated manipulation. "Away from you. Away from everyone who views my life as an acceptable risk for their greater good."
"Please, let me help you. Let me try to find a solution?—"
"You've helped enough." I pause at the threshold, looking back at the sister I thought I knew. "For what it's worth, Sarah, I understand why you did it. I've spent my entire life being second-best, second choice, second priority. I suppose it was inevitable that eventually someone would decide I was second valuable enough to sacrifice."
I leave her standing in the wreckage of our relationship, surrounded by the evidence of her calculated betrayal. The steam-powered cab I hail carries me through the familiar streets of a city that no longer feels like home, past gas lamps and mechanical marvels that represent the human world I'm no longer entirely part of.
Behind me lies three years of sisterly manipulation disguised as love. Ahead of me lies an impossible choice between trusting the alpha who lied to me and dying slowly in a world that has already decided I'm expendable.
But at least now I understand the full scope of the conspiracy that brought me to this moment. At least now I know that my entire life has been shaped by people who viewed me as useful rather than precious.
The question is: what do I do with that knowledge?
CHAPTER 24
MAYA
The boarding houseon the outskirts of Greymont smells like cabbage and desperation. It's exactly what I deserve—a grimy room with peeling wallpaper and a narrow bed that creaks with every movement. I've been here for two days, trying to disappear into the anonymous masses of humanity that populate the industrial districts where no one asks questions about pretty young women paying cash for temporary lodging.
Two days since I fled Sarah's laboratory and her calculated betrayals. Two days since I discovered that my own sister has been planning my sacrifice for years, collecting my blood samples and monitoring my genetics like I was livestock being prepped for slaughter. Two days of trying to convince myself that I can live without the man who lied to me about everything while my enhanced biology screams that separation will kill me.
I'm going to disappear. Find passage on a merchant ship to the Southern Dominions, or maybe the Eastern Territories. Somewhere far enough from both the Fae courts and Sarah's manipulation that I can figure out how to live with divine power flowing through my mortal veins.
If I live long enough.
The symptoms started yesterday morning. At first, I thought it was just the stress of everything I'd learned—the racing heart, the cold sweats, the way my hands shake when I try to eat the meager meals I can afford. But as the hours passed, the discomfort has grown into something that feels less like anxiety and more like... withdrawal.
My body aches in ways that have nothing to do with the uncomfortable bed or the damp Greymont air seeping through the thin walls. There's a hollow sensation in my chest, as if something vital has been torn away. My enhanced senses feel muffled, like I'm experiencing the world through thick glass. And underneath it all, a desperate craving that makes my omega nature whine with need.
I need my mate.
The thought makes me want to scream with frustration. After everything I've learned about Thorian's lies and manipulation, after discovering the extent of Sarah's calculated betrayal, the last thing I should want is to return to the man who's been orchestrating my potential death for months. But my transformed biology doesn't care about logic or self-preservation.
The mate bond knows its other half is missing.
