(Daciana POV)
The ground beneath the sacred circle opened with a sound like old bones cracking, and red light bled through the silver dust.
Gonzalo’s blood crawled toward my feet like a living snake, carrying the unborn child’s heartbeat inside every dark red line.
Ashina screamed again, but this time the sound was not victory, rage, or a performance made beautiful for frightened wolves.
It was pain.
Real pain.
The kind that stripped masks from faces and left only the terrified person underneath.
Her black feather crown burned above her head, yet the fire did not consume it, because the ritual fed from suffering instead of wood.
Adolphus stood behind her with both hands lifted toward the moon, smiling like a priest blessing a grave he had dug himself.
“Begin,” he whispered, and th
