Chapter 21 · Her Mother Dies Again

"Step away from the console, Mara."

Kael’s voice was a wreck. Hoarse. Bleeding. Desperate. He was slumped against the rusted bulkhead of the rift-station, chest heaving. The stolen power he’d shoved into me was still humming under my skin like a thousand angry hornets. My fingertips sparked.

I didn’t move. I didn’t even look at him. My eyes were locked on the flickering holographic screen. The footage was grainy, seventeen years old, and absolutely devastating.

There she was. My mother. Pale. Terrified. And standing over her? Cyrus Grant.

"I told you to move," Kael rasped. He tried to push himself up, but his arm gave out. He slid back down with a wet thud.

"You were there," I whispered. I finally turned, my gaze cutting through him. "You weren't just some distant soldier. You were in the room, Kael. You watched him do it."

Kael didn’t flinch. His jaw just tightened. "I was a pawn. I didn't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice!"

I screamed, and the power in my veins surged. A shockwave blasted outward, cracking the floor tiles beneath my boots. "You chose to stand there!