Serena’s body still thrummed with the Enchanted Glade’s magic, the vision of her mother’s warning—*“Embrace your fire”*—igniting a fragile confidence in her fire witch powers. The charred pendant around her neck pulsed, a reminder of the moonroot ritual she needed to cure her illness and balance her magic. Her fever lingered, dulled by Olivia’s tonic, but the cloaked figure’s pursuit and Olivia’s lethal suggestion to kill her kept her on edge. Gary and Jack’s loyalty anchored her, but Hart’s conflicted motives, revealed in his confession to his brothers, stirred a confusing mix of distrust and curiosity. As dawn crept into her room in the Sloan mansion, exhaustion tugged at her, but sleep was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
A sharp knock shattered the quiet, followed by Hart’s voice, low an
