Selene's POV
The sky has forgotten how to be blue.
Every morning, the same ash-colored clouds crawl over Blackthorn's towers, and every night the wind carries whispers that don't belong to the living. It started small, a tremor beneath the castle walls, a strange hum that kept the priests awake. Then the dreams came. Now, the kingdom doesn't sleep at all.
I wake to screaming again.
It's not mine this time. It's the soldiers outside, shouting about another villager found raving by the river, his eyes glowing crimson before turning to ash. Lucien's essence, what's left of him is eating the realm from the inside out.
I pull on my cloak and look into the mirror. The reflection barely looks like me anymore. The faint black veins beneath my skin shimmer when I breathe. Some mornings, my pupils flash red. Some nights, I hear his laughter echoing inside my head.
My darling sister, the voice murmurs now, low and cruel. You think you're free of me?
