Does she still hate me?
Had twenty minutes dulled the blade? Or made it sharper?
"Stop it," Dot snapped, her light dimming slightly in his mind. "You can't fix that from a bassinet."
There was no warmth in her voice this time. Just blunt honesty. The kind that cut through self-pity fast.
"Focus on… I don't know. Not crying for once."
Elias's lips moved.
Not much. Just a twitch. The closest thing he had to a smile right now.
"Fair," he admitted, letting the thought hang.
But then the shard answered.
A dull throb—not quite pain, but colder this time. Deeper.
It pulled his mind downward again, past Dot, past Kikaru, toward something older. The gem. The one buried under the capital. The one the crucifix wanted.
Bring it to me, he'd said. And I'll show you the truth. Your father. Your world.
