THE AIR IN THE temple felt alive, thick with the smell of old stone, rare magical plants, and a sharp, metallic scent that seemed to come right from the Blood Moon itself. Outside, the world was painted in a strange, otherworldly red, the deep crimson light sneaking in through cracks in the cavern walls, bathing everything in colors of magic and destiny. Selene and Waldemar stood right in the middle of the temple, in front of the old altar, where they had carefully placed the special things needed for the ritual: the shimmering Moon-Kissed Willow Sap, the colorful Hydra Scale, and the dark, pulsing Shadowbloom Nectar.
They were ready. As ready as any two people could be for something so unknown and dangerous. Their night of sharing everything, of showing their deepest fears and true feeli
