Lyra's POV
"What—"
I slammed my hand over his mouth before the word could bounce off the corridor walls. His eyes went wide with shock.
"If you can't keep quiet, we need to find somewhere else to talk," I whispered harshly.
I grabbed his hand to drag him somewhere private, but he jerked it away so hard I stumbled backward.
"My mother knows?" The words came out flat and deadly.
It wasn't really a question. We both knew that.
I swallowed hard. I hated this part. Hated throwing the Grand Luna under the bus, even if it meant protecting myself from revealing something worse. "Yes. She knows."
"And she told you to hide it from me."
"She begged me to hide it from you," I corrected, though it barely mattered.
He let out a bitter laugh that made my skin crawl. "And you agreed."
"Yes."
"What?" He stared at me like I'd grown horns. "Why the hell would you do that?"
