~ Seraphina’s POV ~
The forest burned. Flames crawled across the trees like living serpents, turning bark and bone into ash. Somewhere in the distance, someone screamed. I knew that voice—it was Walder.
"The prophecy," he rasped, clutching my wrist with strength he shouldn't have had. His eyes, clouded with pain and fading life, bore into mine. "You must awaken before the fire consumes it all. Only then... only then..."
"Walder?" I whispered, but he was gone. His hand slipped from mine—and suddenly, the flames weren’t just around me. They were inside me.
Then the scent of burnt cedar and blood twisted into something fouler—Regis.
He emerged from the blaze, eyes gleaming, that possessive smile that had haunted me since childhood stretching across his face. "You can run, Seraphina, but
