Chapter 23. The Journals

“My family.”

Those two words felt warm—sacred, even—as if they weren’t just written on the page, but etched into something deeper inside me. My fingers tingled again, as if the journal still held the warmth of the woman who wrote it.

Lyra.

I didn’t know what gave me the right to sift through her personal entries, but something inside me pushed forward, almost urged me. The room grew quiet as I drew in a breath and began to read.

First Entry;

“My family is not bound by blood, but by survival, by truth, by sacrifice, and by exile. We were once part of something greater—until we were cast out. They feared us, called us unnatural. Banished. I carry our story now, so it is not forgotten. So they will know who we were… who we are.”

My breath hitched. I felt Aries beside me—when had he gotten here? But his presence grounded me, steadying my heart enough to continue.

“There was a girl born under the moon’s shadow, her power pulsing eve