She straightens. "That is?—"
"Stop." Freida's voice cuts like a blade. "It's too late, Sara. Everything you've done. Everything we've done." She shakes her head. "It's too late. You must see that."
Mother's eyes flash. "It is not too late. It will only be too late if?—"
Freida slams her palm on the desk. "Just tell her the godsdamn truth!"
The room goes silent.
Mother turns to me. When she speaks, her voice is calm, but her eyes remain silver. Unnatural.
"You've studied ancient civilizations. You know that history doesn't repeat itself exactly—but the themes are cyclical. The patterns recur."
I nod slowly, uncertain where this is leading.
"The question is never who will break the cycle," she continues. "It's when. I thought sparing Lunaris from the truth of the last three hundred years was a kindness." She pauses. "But mostly, I knew it would keep you and your brother safe."
The air in the room shifts. "Safe from what?"
"From Cato." Her voice drops. "From his hunters. From everything he's spent centuries searching for."
I sink back in my chair. The prophecy. This is about the prophecy. I knew it the moment I heard Anala speak those words under the blood moon.
I felt it in my bones. But knowing something and having it confirmed are different creatures entirely. She went to all these lengths to ... what? Prevent it from coming true? But why would she want to prevent?—
"Because I'm a healer," I say slowly, the pieces clicking into place. "Atruehealer. The prophecy says the healer's hands will break the chain. Is that why?—"
"Because Cato is your father."
The words hit the air like a clap of thunder. They ring in my ears. Echo. Refuse to make sense.
My father.
Cato.
The Everlasting.
I shake my head. The denial rises to my lips, ready to be spoken, but it won't come. As if some part of me already knows.
Cato, who slaughtered the healers of Larimar. Who hunts seers and siphoners. Who stole a throne and cursed an entire kingdom when he couldn't have what he wanted. That monster is my father.
"No." The word comes out broken. "That's not … how is that possible?"
Mother speaks before I can finish.
"Many years ago, Cato visited my homeland of Larimar..."
The room tilts. Mother's voice fades to static. Larimar. Pia's homeland. The drowned island.
From the drowned island, the flame still burns.
The last thing I see is Mother rising from her chair, her mouth forming my name.
Then darkness swallows everything.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Ada?" A light slap against my cheek. "Ada?" Another.
