Leya gasped, looking at the burned letter, Samuel's words branded like a cancerous blessing in her mind.

"If they find out what you are—"

What was she?

All that she had seemed to roll away from her like loose marble, leaving her chilled. She balled the burned paper in her hand, heat branding the shape of her palm where ash foamed like hidden secrets.

Shayla watched her with wide eyes. “Leya… what does it mean?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, though her ...