Shadows and Steel

Vivienne’s POV

I swallowed, forcing the next question past the tightness in my throat. “Do my parents know? About who your family really is?”

Val’s reply was quiet, but it struck me all the same. “Your father, yes. Your mother…I am uncertain.”

I reeled. I thought of the countless days I had spent in the Sokolov house, the warmth of dinners, the ordinary childhood moments we had shared. I thought o