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🪷 LYRA 🪷
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"Take off your shoes."
Valerie didn't look at her when she said it. She was already moving around the room, pulling things from places.
"…Right," Lyra muttered, slipping off her shoes and nudging them aside with her foot.
"Stand at the center." She pointed to the middle of the room.
There were faint markings scratched into the wood, Lyra hadn't noticed it before.
Lyra stepped into it, and the moment both her feet crossed into the markings, it felt like stepping into cold water.
Valerie crouched, placing a small metal bowl just outside the circle. Then another. Then something that looked like ash.
"You could at least tell me what you're doing."
"I am removing what doesn't belong to you."
"Yeah, I got that part. The 'how' would be nice."
"Last chance," she said. "If you want to keep her, say it now."
Lyra frowned. "Why would I-"
"Because once I start, she won't go quietly."
"…What do you mean?"
