“You think you can kill me, Lyla?”

Elaine’s voice echoed from the shadows, and Lyla’s grip on her sword tightened. Her mother’s betrayal still burned deep, but the rage was different now. It wasn’t just anger, it was a promise.

Lyla stepped forward, eyes cold. “I’m not here to kill you. But I will break you.”

Elaine laughed, stepping into the dim moonlight. “You’ll never be enough to do that. Not for me.”

The woman standing before Lyla wasn’t the mother she ...