Helena stiffened. "Why would you think that?" she asked, confusion flickering in her eyes.
"I've heard similar words before," Ivy murmured.
"Silas once said he felt manipulated while we were sleeping." Her gaze sharpened. "And now… I feel the same."
Helena's expression darkened, her heart tightening. "What are you trying to say?"
"When Nora asked me to promise I'd stay alive," Ivy said quietly, "I was about to agree. Then a voice in my mind told me not to."
Helena's eyes widened in horror.
Ivy clenched her fists. "I don't know if it was real," she continued.
"Maybe it was a hallucination. Maybe stress is making me imagine things... "
"What if it wasn't?" Helena interrupted sharply. "What if that was the moment your power began to awaken?"
Ivy stared at her, stunned. Then realization struck.
Her gaze hardened as she looked at Helena. "Are you still hiding something from me?"
