Luna Everleigh's POV
***
The air crackled between them.
Aldric took a step forward. "You knew this was the only way," he said, voice low, dangerous. "You swore we would fight together, Selene. You swore you wouldn't leave me."
Selene's lips trembled, but she didn't waver. "I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice!" Aldric's voice broke, and for the first time, I saw it—the pain. The devastation of a man watching the woman he loved slip through his fingers.
Selene lifted her chin. "If I don't do this, the Lunar Guardians will fall. Our people will fall."
Aldric's hands shook. "We could have found another way!"
A flash of silver—
Selene raised her hand, and a dagger appeared in her grasp, its blade gleaming under the moonlight.
Aldric's breath hitched. "Don't."
My heartbeat pounded in my ears.
No.
No, this wasn't how it was supposed to end.
"This is the fate you cannot escape."
A whisper curled through my mind, cold as death.
"You and Rhydian are just echoes of them. History will always repeat itself."
I gasped as the scene around me began to dissolve, breaking apart like shards of glass.
"No!" I reached out, but everything crumbled—
And then I was falling.
The next thing I knew, strong arms wrapped around me. A scent of storm and fire filled my senses.
I opened my eyes.
Rhydian.
But something was wrong.
His face was pale, his expression unreadable.
"Luna," he whispered.
I frowned. "What—"
Then I saw my reflection in his eyes.
And the golden glow staring back at me was not my own.
***
To be continued