"Aika..." Archer said gently, "who poisoned you? Your baba?"

A bitter taste flooded my mouth, as real as it had been fourteen years ago, and I shook my head violently, trying to smear those memories from my head forever.

But I had to say it. I had to find out the truth.

"My ama. My mom," I finally admitted, my voice cut from shards of stone. I'd never told anyone that. Ever. Not even Jade. With the truth out there in the open, I felt horribly naked, ...