Chapter 12: The Secret Meeting

The betrayal hung between us like a storm cloud, thick and suffocating. After what I’d seen in the woods, I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think.

Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Lysa’s guilt-ridden face as she handed something over to Alaric’s spy.

I couldn’t let it go. I had to confront her. I had to know the truth.

I found Lysa early the next morning in the training yard, her back to me as she faced a row of targets.

She was going through the motions, but her movements were sluggish, lacking her usual precision. I took a deep breath, my heart hammering in my chest as I approached her.

“Lysa, we need to talk,” I said, my voice as steady as I could manage.

She froze, her shoulders tensing as if she had been expecting this. Slowly, she turned to face me, her eyes shadowed with exhaustion and something else—something darker.

“What’s there to talk about, Sera?” she asked, her voice flat, emotionless. “You already think you know everything.”

“I saw you,” I said, my voice tre