Sebastian’s pov
I felt the air grow thin around me, as though the world itself were slipping through my grasp. My hands trembled, the black iron crown heavy upon my brow. Dust and blood coated my armor, the once-sleek lines now gouged and cracked from the onslaught of Crimson Moon’s final charge. All around me, the clash of swords had slowed to a ragged echo. My shadow-wolves faltered, their dark banners drooping, eyes hollowed by exhaustion and betrayal.
I pressed a hand to my side where Liam’s blade had slashed a moment ago, the wound still hot and leaking through my cuirass. My breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. The magic I had drawn from the Moon Goddess, from Leila’s wolf, once a roaring inferno in my veins, ebbed like a dying ember. I felt no power surging in my limbs, no crackl
