Lira remembered the day the Ashen Circle approached her. A man named Director Sorn—smooth voice, gray suit, eyes like ice.
"You're close to the Vires. We need what they're hiding. Help us, and we'll give you power. Real power."
She refused. At first.
But when her little brother was diagnosed with a terminal condition and the hospitals turned her away, she made her choice.
She inserted the drive. She walked away from the burning lab. And she told herself she was doing it for survival.
But she never forgot Kael's face.
Not when he screamed her name.
Not when he collapsed next to his mother's body.
Not even now.