The violet moon hung in the sky like a bruised jewel. Every time I looked up, I felt a sharp tug in my chest. Silas wasn't dead, but he was unreachable. He was up there, trapped in the cold silence of the stars, while I was down here in the mud and the ash.
The man in white armor—the one who called himself the Herald—stood by the shimmering Star-Door. The portal looked like a vertical lake of liquid diamonds. It hummed with a sound that made my teeth ache.
"You have one minute, Elara Vance," the Herald said. "The door only opens when the Moon is at its highest point. If you stay, you remain the Queen of this world. You can rebuild your pack. You can live in peace. But if you step through... you become a trespasser in the Heavens."
I looked back at the ruins of the Blood Moon Pack.
I sa
