SCARLETT
Darkness wrapped around me, heavy and endless. My lungs burned, my body numb, but then light. Silver light, cold and pure, spreading across the void like ripples over black water.
I stood barefoot on a mirror-smooth lake, the crescent moon overhead glowing brighter than I had ever seen. My mark burned in answer, silver fire licking across my chest.
“Scarlett…”
The voice wasn’t Kael’s. It wasn’t Darius’s. It wasn’t even Lucien’s. It was older colder. Female. Divine.
A woman stepped from the moonlight itself, her hair flowing like liquid starlight, her eyes the same silver fire that lived in my veins. Her presence crushed me to my knees.
“The Moon Goddess,” I whispered, breathless.
Her gaze cut into me like a blade. “Moonbane.”
The word slammed into me. My chest tightened,
