Kagame finished securing the blanket around Sari, Cara's daughter, before standing up. The exhaustion in the room was heavier than the narra furniture. Cara looked at Consuelo, her mother, lying pale and still on the sofa. The sight of her powerful Babaylan mother reduced to such frailty was a profound, terrifying shift. The smell of the mark and spent power confirmed the new, unwanted reality, as if the torch had been passed.
"She gave too much," Cara murmured, her hand tracing the faint lines on her mother's forehead. "The Trace was too heavy..."
Leone, Cara's husband and Sari's father, knelt beside her. "Your mother did everything she can for her beloved granddaughter. It's something fulfilling for her, and Sari's safe, Cara. That's what matters. Your mother saved her. We all did."
