Chapter Ninety Three: Her Wings

ARIA

My eyes moved from the open grave to Raven’s face, then back again, as if my mind needed to see it twice to believe it.

The dead earth. The broken stone. My mother’s name carved in it.

When I looked at Raven again, she was smiling, like this was a game she had already won.

“Oh,” she said lightly, tilting her head. “You figured it out. Too bad you’re dying here and won’t get to tell a soul.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

I didn’t really know my mother. She had died when I was too young to hold clear memories of her, but there were pieces that lived in me no matter how small I was back then.

A blurry image of a woman smiling down at me. Fingers gently combing through my hair.

My chest tightened, and tears burned the back of my eyes, but I forced them down. This was not the moment to fall apart.

Raven’s smile widened as if she could smell my weakness.

“What? You wanna cry over a mama you barely know? What if you find out that your dear little auntie has joined your mom? Be