TRISTANI hate silence. It never make things easier. It amplifies the thoughts I don't want to hear, like a drum echoing in the empty chambers of my mind. I stare at the pile of reports on my desk, trying to make sense of the chaos around me. My fingers hover over the paper, but I can't focus. I can't focus on anything. Not the maps, not the intel. Not even the goddamn battle strategies.All I hear is her.Her voice, her laughter, the way she would whisper my name like it was a secret only the two of us knew. I can still feel her touch when I close my eyes, a phantom sensation, too real to dismiss.But I can’t have her. Not like I want.She ended it.She said she was scared, that being Luna wasn't something she bargained for. But I know better. The real reason... the reason she's pushing me away? She's terrified.I can’t get past that. I can't understand it, not when I’ve fought so hard to make us a reality. I’ve given her every part of me—my trust, my loyalty, my soul. But no matter
ELEANORIt’s strange how silence can scream louder than words. That’s what my mornings feel like now—quiet, but heavy. Each sound exaggerated in the stillness. The scrape of my spoon in Kate’s oatmeal bowl. The creak of floorboards under my feet as I make my rounds in the healing chambers. Even Kate’s laughter, which once brought warmth, now seems far away. Like an echo from another life.I kneel beside Lady Bianca’s birthing bed, wiping sweat from her brow as she pants through her contractions. Her husband hovers nervously behind me, shifting from one foot to another like his presence alone could ease her pain. I manage a smile, whispering soothing words, my hands steady even though my chest is in knots.I should be grateful. The people of Nightshade trust me again. After everything with Cedric, they still let me bring life into the world. But no amount of acceptance can drown the guilt sitting in my gut like stone.Tristan hasn’t spoken to me in days.Not that I blame him.I broke i
CEDRIC"So you're telling me the mission failed?"Silence.The bunker stank of sweat and fear. Four of them stood before me, shadows flickering across their faces from the dim lantern swinging overhead. Rain tapped the metal roof in quick, impatient rhythms, but it wasn’t nearly loud enough to drown out my rage.“We—we did what you asked,” one of them stuttered. Markel, or Marcus—hell if I remembered his name. “We tracked them all the way to the girl's school, but—”"The girl was right there. Right fucking there, and you let her slip?" I took a step forward. One of them flinched.Cowards."We didn’t expect her to have so much security with her," one stammered, his voice cracking. "It was an ambush—"I slammed my fist into his jaw. He flew sideways, hit the wall hard, and crumpled."Don’t insult me with excuses," I hissed. "She’s still out there. With them. My daughter. My Kate.”He flinched at her name. They always did. Like even they knew what she meant to me. What she cost me.“She
TRISTANI didn’t go to combat training.Didn’t even leave the damn office.Instead, I sat in the dark, the only light coming from the fire in the corner and the bottle of whiskey I’d stolen from my father’s stash.She left. She fucking left.My fingers clutched the neck of the bottle tighter as the memory slammed into me again. The way her voice broke. The way her eyes couldn’t even look at me when she said it.I’m freeing myself.She used those words like they meant something noble. Like I was some prison and she was setting herself free. But I wasn't the cage. I was the one trying to keep her from burning the damn world down around her.I drank again, the burn biting down my throat like punishment.The door creaked open. I didn’t look.“You planning on drinking yourself to death or are you just getting a head start on tomorrow's regrets?”Maurice.I exhaled and leaned back in the chair, letting the fire warm one half of my face while the rest stayed cold.He shut the door and walked
ELEANOR “Wait—Elle, just stop for a second. Please.”Tristan’s voice echoed behind me, low and urgent, but I didn’t stop. I kept walking, fast and angry, my boots hitting the stone floor like war drums. I shoved past a guard and stormed down the corridor, heart pounding, fists clenched.“Eleanor!”I spun on him so fast he almost ran into me. My voice came out shaking. “Don’t! Don’t tell me to stop! Don’t ask me to calm down! I heard everything, Tristan!”His eyes flicked toward the council chamber behind him, a flicker of guilt crossing his face before he buried it. “You shouldn’t have been there—”“But I was. I heard every word. You’re going through with the ceremony.”He ran a hand through his hair, jaw tight. “It’s not what you think.”“Really?” I snapped. “Because it sounded a lot like you agreeing to let the Council pick your Luna like it’s a godsdamned auction.”“I didn’t agree to be paraded,” he said sharply. “I agreed to a solution. One the Council practically shoved down my
TRISTANGods, not this again.The summons came at dawn—delivered with the kind of urgency only the Council could wield like a damn blade. A slip of parchment. A wax seal. One word scrawled in dark ink.Now.I stared at it for a full minute before I crumpled it in my hand.The past few days had already bled me dry.Cedric’s public challenge. The attack on Kate. Damian’s murder—his goddamn tongue in his hand like a message written in flesh. And Eleanor? She’d been avoiding me like I was the one with blood on my hands.I wasn’t in the mood for politics. I wasn’t in the mood for anything but sleep and maybe ten minutes where the world didn’t feel like it was folding in on itself.But they were calling. And when the Council called, I had to answer. Whether I liked it or not.I shoved the door open harder than necessary and stepped into the chamber.The room was circular, high-ceilinged, and thick with the scent of old parchment and damp stone. Torches lined the walls, flickering like they