Chapter 99

*Lyra*

The first light of dawn crept through the windows, pale and soft, a contrast to the heaviness pressing down on my chest. The house felt impossibly quiet without Nolan’s soft babbles and laughter echoing through the halls. I missed him already, and every part of me ached to hold him again, but sending him away had been the only way to keep him safe. I knew that. And yet, the emptiness he lef