McKayla had always known she wasn’t meant for peace. She was carved for ruin, sharpened for sacrifice. When McKenna revealed herself at the ceremony, it wasn’t triumph. It was a death sentence. And the weight of that death clung to McKayla like smoke, because she had failed. She should have stopped it. Should have spoken, twisted fate another way. Instead, she had stood silent, and silence was its own betrayal.
Now every time McKenna smiled, every time she brushed her hair back with that stubborn flick of her wrist, McKayla’s chest burned with guilt. Because McKenna had no idea.
She didn’t know she wasn’t McKayla’s twin. Didn’t know her whole existence was tied to bindings inked in blood and whispered bargains beneath the Moon. Didn’t know her purpose wasn’t to live or love freely, but t
