The howling wind whistled outside like a lost soul blowing dead leaves through the stone paths in the Crescent Moon estate. The shadows moved behind heavy velvet curtains indoors and in front of her own window Maddy stood motionless with an inscrutable expression on her face. There sounded her own heartbeat, louder than she had supposed.
They were turning against her.
She could feel it. The whispers had grown louder, Sophia’s presence far more confident. And Ethan... Ethan no longer looked at her with the same trusting gaze.
Something had changed.
She turned sharply, lips curling into a mockery of a smile as she smoothed her long golden hair and exited her room.
---
Ethan was sitting in the council room going through the latest reports of the scouts; Maddy walked in. She was clad in
