KODA'S POV
It was like something clicked in my head the moment Ayasha said it.
Mingan… trying to adopt her.
I had heard enough strange things in my life to know when something didn't sit right, but this wasn't just strange. It was wrong. The kind of wrong that digs under your skin and makes your jaw ache from clenching too hard.
"Wait," I said, staring at her. "My grandfather actually said that? That he wanted to adopt you?"
She didn't look away. "He said it during the second trial. Not in jest, Koda. He meant it."
The air between us went still. I didn't even feel the cold anymore. All I could hear was my own blood pounding in my ears.
"Why would he…?" My voice trailed off. There wasn't a single answer that didn't turn my stomach. "Taking you out of the games… putting your whole territory under my father's control and ruthlessness… why would he think that's the way to go?"
Ayasha didn't try to soften it for me. "You'll have to ask him yourself."
