Chapter 16

There wasn't a trace of pity in Garrick's gaze, just a flicker of satisfaction. He slapped a stack of printed photos against Lyra's face, his voice low and venomous. "You claim you knew nothing? Who's the person in these pictures, then? "You've done all these vile things, and you still won't admit it?" The sharp edge of a photo scraped across her cheek, leaving thin red slashes. But the moment she saw what was in the photos, her body froze up. "No… It wasn't me. I didn't do it!" she insisted, denying it. "Kaelis must've photoshopped these! I never did any of this. Garrick, didn't you say you'd believe me no matter what I did? That you'd stand by me?" she cried. "Go take it up with Kaelis. It's all her slander!" "I said enough!" Garrick ground his heel on Lyra's hand, rage flaring as her piercing scream tore through the silence. "Lyra, how much longer are you going to keep lying? I'm not an idiot—I can tell if the evidence is real! If it weren't for you hurting Kaelis, she and