LOGINThe curse is gone. Not just broken, not just lifted—but dissolved so completely that the land feels as if it never bore its weight.The air is softer, sweeter, touched by a warmth that runs deeper than the sun. It thrums beneath my bare feet with each step I take across the moss-laced path.The Holl
Elunara trembles in my arms, her skin slick with sweat. Her breath still comes fast, but the magic has begun to settle.The earth is quiet again. Not empty—sated.She leans into my chest, exhausted and radiant. I press a kiss to her temple, tasting the salt of her skin. My lips linger there longer t
“Perfect,” he breathes. “Made for us. Made for me.”The words unravel me.There is no fear. No doubt. Only the sound of skin against skin, the heat of him inside me, the pull of his mouth at my breast, and the wild, holy thing rising in my chest that screams yes as I shatter around him.Yes to this
I lower myself onto him slowly, deliberately. Every inch of contact is heat and friction and desperate need. His hands grip my hips like he’s anchoring himself to the world through me.As I take him fully, a gasp breaks from my lips—and a low growl rumbles from his throat.“Khael…” I whisper, overwh
The people on the other side of the veil stand silent from where I am, their mouths parted in cheers I cannot yet receive. But I feel them. In my ribs. In my throat. In the hollow of my chest.It’s not just their joy. It’s their welcome.I’ve never known these people. And still, I know them. Not by
We move as one toward the edge of the Hollow, toward the field where the veil thinned under the last full moon. Where we showed her what remained of our world beyond.The stars blaze above, casting a bright light against the obsidian sky. The Milk Moon hasn’t reached its peak yet, but it’s close. Hi
The moon finds me first.Its light spills through the window in thick silver ribbons, crawling across the mattress until it reaches my skin. I wake without knowing how long I’ve slept, but my body is aware. It pulses with the weight of tonight. My breath catches, shallow and quick, as my eyes adjust
Behind us, Khael rides quiet. Watching the trees. Watching her. Always her.I cradle her gently in the saddle as the landscape slips past. Elunara is buried in sleep, but her body still pulses with slumbering need—her hair fans across my arm like silk, and I can’t help but draw strength from her war
The clearing is quiet as we walk back. Elunara’s steps are slower now, deliberate, like every inch of her skin is aware of the air brushing across it. I know what’s inside her. That ache, the pull beneath her skin that deepens as the moon climbs higher. It’s not even visible yet, and still we all fe
I keep Elunara within view of the camp as we move farther into the clearing. There’s no need to stray. She needs space—not distance. Not today.I stop at a flat patch where the light filters through the trees. I turn to face her, motioning for her to follow.“Here,” I say, low and calm, as I take my







