Smooth.
Unmarked.
“You saw the orb react,” Lucian presses. “You saw blood move against gravity.”
“We saw a reaction,” Axel counters. “That does not define species.”
“It defines inheritance,” Lucian replies.
My thoughts feel like they are moving through thick water, slow but relentless.
“If my mother carried this,” I say quietly, “why didn’t it surface in her.”
Lucian’s expression softens slightly, and for a moment he looks almost reflective.
“She bound herself,” he says.
The words strike deeper than the others.
“Bound how,” Atticus demands.
“Ritually,” Lucian answers. “She participated in the reinforcement of the seal.”
Axel goes still.
“She tied herself to suppression,” Lucian continues. “She ensured the dormant traits remained dormant.”
My chest tightens painfully.
“She ch
