Aria’s POV
Sleep was impossible.
The weight of unease pressed against my chest with every passing hour, suffocating me more than the silence of the night. The mansion was alive with tension—warriors stationed on every floor, patrols circling the grounds without rest, and yet none of it felt enough. Because Nirma was gone. Vanished.
We had searched the entirety of the Onyx and Black Moon territory, every ridge and stream, every shadowed grove and hidden cave, but the witch had left no trace behind. No footprints, no lingering scent, no scrap of magic clinging to the air. It was as if she had dissolved into smoke.
But that only made it worse.
Because a witch that vanished so completely was never truly gone.
And Owen…
My arms tightened instinctively at the thought of him, the little bu
