The morning after my encounter with Mara in the prison felt... liberating.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I had looked my enemy in the eye, stripped of every pretense, and given her a piece of the fire she tried to snuff out in me.
That scene... her filthy, desperate, trembling self played again and again in my head like a favorite song. It wasn't just revenge. It was closure. It was power. I smiled to myself as I stretched in bed.
The sunlight filtering through my curtains felt like a warm blanket wrapping around my soul.
I had survived. I had faced death, humiliation, and betrayal, and I was still here. No longer hiding. No longer broken.
A knock came just as I was tying the sash of my robe.
"Message for Caitlyn," the voice outside said.
I opened the door to fin
