Aria’s POV
The wind howled through the clearing, stirring the trees in a restless dance. The air smelled of damp earth and ancient magic, the kind that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I pulled my jacket tighter around me, feeling Damon’s steady presence at my side. His hand brushed against mine as if to remind me he was there. He always had that way of grounding me, even when everything else felt like it was spiraling out of control.
Hollow Pines wasn’t just a place—it was an experience. Every step we’d taken deeper into its shadows had felt like peeling back the layers of an old wound, exposing something raw and festering. Now, standing in front of a cracked stone altar with the grave of a long-dead witch at our feet, I felt like we were crossing into something we cou
