Natalie~
The moonlight had barely faded from the room when the last traces of my mother—the Moon Goddess herself—disappeared. Gone in a breath, a flicker of divine smoke that vanished before I could reach for it.
And there I stood, rooted to the floor like my bones were made of stone, staring at the spot where she had vanished. My heart was hammering. My palms were slick with sweat. My thoughts? Utter chaos.
Jasmine's voice broke through the chaos in my head—flat, dry, and sharp like the edge of a cracked mirror.
"Well, what now, Mara?"
I groaned, dragging both hands down my face, still staring at Zane like he'd vanish next. He lay sprawled across the bed, his skin deathly pale, soaked in sweat. His breathing was too shallow, too uneven. And underneath it all, I could feel it. The Shadow. Writhing beneath his skin like smoke with a mind of its own.
My jaw clenched. We were out of time.
