Chapter 98

Lyra

Camilla laughed.

Not a small laugh. Not a nervous chuckle. I’m talking about a full-blown, head-thrown-back, mouth-wide-open, mascara-smearing, unhinged kind of laugh.

That ugly, cackling, teeth-baring sound that makes you instantly uncomfortable just listening to it. She was clutching her side like she’d just heard the best joke of her life, like someone had handed her a script for a comedy special and said, “Here, this one’s about you losing your damn mind in real time.”

I didn’t move.

Damon didn’t move.

But she just kept laughing, louder now, staggering slightly as she clutched the edge of a chair to keep herself upright. Her body was shaking, her chest heaving, her eyeliner now smudged so far down her cheeks she looked like a sad clown that had wandered into a horror movie set.

“Are you serious?” she wheezed between gasps, swiping at her face with the back of her hand. “No—like, actually. Is this a joke? A prank? Some kind of