"What are you to me?"
The question was so sharp it made Elara flinch. She had been staring at the brick wall of the alley, trying to find her words, but now she snapped her head toward Lyra. At the same distance as before, Lyra stood with her fists clenched so white the knuckles looked like bone. Her eyes were ice-cold.
"What are you to me? We are nothing now. You're just a stranger."
"Lyra," Elara said. It sounded like a sigh, a heavy weight leaving her chest.
Lyra didn't wait. She turned to walk away, her steps wide and quick. Elara reached out and grabbed her arm, desperate to stop her from vanishing into the dark. Lyra shook her off with a cold, violent jerk of her shoulder.
"What do you want from me?!" Lyra screamed.
There were so many things. A thousand things Elara wanted to say, but they were all stuck in her throat. She pressed her lips together, her mind a chaotic mess of memories she couldn't erase.
