Ian's POV
A tremor ran through me, but I buried it deep, my eyes still scanning the room.
Selene... she was lurking around.
The hour draws near.
The moment she promised - the moment I would be given the tool to save him - is almost here.
Fear coiled tight in my chest, tangled with something sharper: curiosity.
What will she say when she comes?
What form will she take this time?
And when the rose is in my hands… what will I become?
My heart hammered, echoing the wild, unspoken questions unraveling inside me.
Across the room, Kiva scribbled furiously into her book again, her brows drawn tight.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat.
She wasn't perceiving the scent. I was the only one. For a moment, I had forgotten that I'm the one for this mission. Not Kiva. Not anybody else
