Lyra's POV
The moment that twisted thought crept into my mind, I shoved it back down.
It refused to disappear completely. It never did. Instead, it sank like a stone into the deepest parts of me, where I could pretend it didn't exist. I despised how Daphne could drag such ugliness from me even when she wasn't present. I hated that my thoughts could drift to such places at all.
Poison.
I shut my eyes briefly and steadied my breathing.
Never.
I wouldn't allow her to transform me into something monstrous. I wouldn't let her corrupt me from within the way she poisoned everything around her. Whatever justice meant now, however warped and compromised it had become, I refused to cross that boundary.
But I needed to face her.
This urge felt nothing like rage. It was quieter. More precise. Like a barbed wire wrapped around my ribs, dragging me forward against my will.
