Chapter 239
The lamps flickered, casting long shadows across the stone path where Minerva had stood just moments before. The air was heavy, thick with words that had been said and words that hadn't.
No one moved.
Lilith stood where my mother had left her, her arm still red from where she'd been grabbed, her face pale and her eyes fixed on the ground. She wasn't crying. That was worse than if she had been.
My mother stood a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her, her chest rising and falling too fast. She looked at Lilith, then at me, then at the closed door where Minerva had disappeared.
"Lilith," she started.
Her voice cracked on the name. The sound of it. It's raw, frayed, nothing like the woman who had grabbed Lilith's arm just minutes ago and made everyone stop.
Lilith looked up. Her face was still pale, her eyes still dry, but something in her shifted. Softened.
"Mother." Her voice was quiet. Not angry. Not accusing. Just tired.
