Ellie POV
It was raining again.
The kind of steady, unhurried rain that made everything in Moonstone shimmer. The packhouse windows were blurred with it, the world chilled and greyed out.
I’d always loved the sound of rain. It was soft and rhythmic, like a symphony, but lately it only made me uneasy.
Ever since Kieran’s last visit, the dreams had changed.
They weren’t just whispers anymore. The goddess’s voice was clearer—still distant, but insistent. Each night I woke with fragments of words on my tongue, half-forgotten before I could write them down. Sometimes, I’d feel a presence beside me, gentle but heavy, as if someone had just left the room.
I didn’t tell Rae. Or Cassian.
I told myself they had enough to worry about. I tried to focus on the twins, the hospital, the work of e
