Dawn painted the children's faces in amber whispers as Daisy extracted herself from their tangle of limbs. Her dream clung like a lover's perfume—memories of a life unlived, a world rewritten to Elvira's specifications. The Moon's Tear throbbed against her collarbone, its rhythm quickened to urgency as dawn's fingers crept across the floor. She pressed her palm against it, feeling answering warmth spread through her body like liquid fire.
Mount Shasta loomed beyond the glass, reality thinning around its peak—fabric stretched to breaking. The mountain had always been a place of power, but now it pulsed with something darker, hungrier, awakened by grief's bitter nectar.
"You should still be resting."
Christian's voice slid across her skin like dark velvet. She turned, breath catching in t
