It began with a shift in the air—subtle, like the slow rise of wind before a storm. One moment the room was still, the faint ticking of the antique clock on my mother’s desk echoing like a lullaby. The next… it was humming.
The small lamp on the edge of the desk flickered once, then again, casting restless shadows across the walls. My eyes snapped from the flickering light to Lupe.
She was already turning.
Her expression—so often impassive and grim—was lit now with something unnerving. Not joy, exactly. But anticipation. A flash of purpose. Her lips quirked upward just slightly, and something in my stomach turned.
Luna surged in my head, her voice slicing through my thoughts like a scream.
‘What is happening?!’
I flinched, heart pounding against my ribs as I tried to calm her—and mys
