The medical wing's fluorescent lights stuttered in frequencies that made reality feel thin, casting shadows that twisted like living things across Daisy's still form. Christian stood in the doorway, three thousand years of carefully honed control wrapped around him like armor, though his beast stirred at the copper-sweet scent of corruption that leaked through the air like poison through water.
The monitoring equipment's electronic heartbeat echoed oddly in the pre-dawn darkness, each beep carrying undertones that shouldn't have existed in properly calibrated machines. Modern technology tried to quantify what ancient power knew in its bones – something was wrong in the spaces between moments, something that made time itself feel brittle.
The Moon's Tear pulsed against Daisy's throat with
