“When I stared down at my seizing mother, an endless burning rage overwhelmed me, and I thought about all the ways she’d hurt me. Ice daggers erupted from my nails, and I shoved them through her back until her sternum cracked. I ripped her beating heart out through muscle and bone. Then guess what happened?” “No?” This felt like a trap. “What happened?” Lucinda asked quietly. The four girls stared at Aran, enraptured. “After I consumed my mother’s raw, beating heart, it sounded like a male stood behind me and praised me. When he spoke, it was pure bliss.” Aran paused, breath ragged, as her
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