Luna Everleigh's POV
***
The night was alive with chaos.
The Devourer stood before us, its form no longer just a mass of shadows and hunger—it was Morganna now. Her essence fused with the beast, her power magnified to something beyond comprehension.
Everything she touched decayed. The earth cracked beneath her feet, trees withered in her wake, and the air itself seemed to tremble at her presence.
I clenched my fists. My body hummed with the energy of the Lunar Guardian, but even now, I knew it wouldn't be enough.
Not unless I gave everything.
"She's unstoppable," Kael muttered beside me, gripping his injured arm. "We can't win this."
"We have to," Nalia snapped. Blood dripped down her temple, her usual sharp expression shadowed with exhaustion. "We don't have another choice."
But we did.
I did.
A voice echoed in my mind, as soft as a whisper, yet as powerful as the moon itself.
"Love is the only thing that can save or destroy us."
Selene's words. A warning. A truth.
I exhaled sharply. The answer had been in front of me this entire time.
"Luna."
Rhydian's voice was hoarse, and when I turned, I found him barely standing, his face pale, his golden eyes burning with desperation.
He knew.
He could see it in my face.
"No," he growled, stepping forward despite his injuries. "Whatever you're thinking, don't do it."
I swallowed hard, ignoring the way my chest ached at his words. "There's no other way."
"There has to be."
His hands gripped my arms, firm but trembling. "You can't—" His voice broke. "You can't leave me."
Tears burned at the edges of my vision, but I forced a smile.
"I was never meant to stay, Rhydian."
A lie.
Because if fate had been kinder, I would have chosen him. Always.
But fate had never been kind.
—
To be continued...