Chapter 97

**Lyra**

The cold air bit at my skin as I walked away from the house, away from Rowan’s pleading voice that still echoed painfully in my mind. Each step I took felt heavy, weighted by the anger, hurt, and betrayal that had settled in my chest like a stone. I wrapped my arms around myself as I made my way into the quiet of the forest, needing space, distance—anything to clear the suffocating fog cl