The transport vehicle jolted over uneven terrain as it sped toward the staging area. Elara finally broke the seal on the pouch Thorne had given her. Inside were standard mission specifications… and one item that didn't belong.
A small, crudely drawn symbol.A tangled crown of thorns.
Beneath it, a single word: FORGOTTEN.
Elara's breath hitched. A cold shock crawled up her spine. This wasn't military intel—not official, at least. This was a message. A warning. Or a threat.
The same symbol she had found in her father's study.The same word that had been tied to Lyra's disappearance.The same mark that had haunted her since returning to the manor.
The timelines snapped into focus: Lyra vanished not long after Elara left for the academy. Kael had shown her a photograph—Lyra gaunt, terrified—weeks ago, claiming it was connected to a larger investigation. Now Thorne had given her this symbol in secret.
Her family's neglect had always felt like a background tragedy. But now it was clear: someone had weaponized it.
Someone had been watching the St. Clair sisters for a long time.
The world beyond the academy wasn't just dangerous—it was personal.
Elara clutched the symbol until the paper crumpled. Her thoughts raced, connecting fragments of overheard whispers, her father's evasive statements, the eerie silence of the manor, the sudden secrecy surrounding Lyra's fate.
This mission wasn't simply reconnaissance anymore.
It was a hunt.A search for answers buried under years of silence.A pursuit of a truth someone desperately wanted hidden.
For years, Elara had been the unseen girl, the afterthought, the shadow that slipped unnoticed through the halls of her own home.
But now?Her invisibility would be her greatest weapon.
Lyra was missing.The symbol was a taunt.And the world beyond the walls was tied to her life in ways she had never imagined.
The unseen girl was no longer prey.
She was the hunter—and she was done being forgotten.