For a very brief moment, Lucien blinked. He stared at Varion as if the man had just spoken in another language. For a long, stretched-out moment, the words 'Sydney is dead,’ and 'Lyra killed her’ echoed across the vast corridor.

Behind him, Aria grew still, her eyes widening as the words impacted her more than it did on Lucien.

“Lyra killed someone?” she gasped,

Lucien’s throat tightened as his aura slowly began to condense, “What did you just say?”

Varion’s head was ...