Lyra guided Anna to a bench that sat beneath an old willow tree, its branches drooping low and private, creating a sheltered space apart from the bustle of the play park., her hand steady on the woman's elbow, feeling the tremors that still ran through her frame.Lyra took Anna's hand.It was cold. Clammy. The hand of someone who had been afraid for a very long time."Anna," Lyra said, her voice dangerously soft. "I need you to tell me something, how long has this been going on?"Anna's eyes flickered up, then away. She wiped at her face with her free hand, a gesture that had become automatic, practiced."Five years," she whispered. The words barely audible, as if saying them aloud might make them more real. "Since Sophia was born."A broken laugh escaped her, sharp and joyless."He was kind at first. When we met, when we mated. He was gentle. Patient." Her fingers found her throat, brushing the bruises there with terrible familiarity. "But after Sophia came, everything changed. He sa
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