LOGINRayna POV Damonâs hand was still on my shoulder when his eyes glazed for a second - the telltale flicker of the mind-link. I could feel the ripple through the bond, his tension coiled like a drawn bow."Lira. Now. Our chambers."The link snapped closed before she could even answer. I touched his wrist. âYou shouldnât sound that scared through the link. Sheâll panic.âHe gave a humorless snort. âToo late for that.âMoments later, the door burst open. Lira swept in like a storm in healerâs robes, her braid half undone and eyes burning bright. Her power always came with the smell of crushed herbs and metal - sharp and clean, like the promise of rain.âWhat happened?â she demanded, already at my side before Damon could answer.âIâm fine,â I started, but Lira shot me a glare sharp enough to peel paint.âDonât even try that. You look like someone drained the sun out of you.â Her fingers hovered just above my skin, and light flickered between us - faint, green-gold tendrils of her magic sea
Rayna POVI woke to the sound of silence.Not the peaceful kind. The kind that hums beneath your skin, heavy and waiting, like the pause before thunder breaks.My eyelids felt weighted with sand. Every time I tried to move, something inside me pulled in the opposite direction - a thread, taut and cold, buried deep under my ribs.The world tilted when I breathed. Silver light flickered behind my eyes.âEasy.â Damonâs voice reached me first - low, rough, and far too steady for how his pulse thundered through the bond. âYouâre safe.âSafe. That word again.I wanted to believe him. But beneath the soft sheets and the faint scent of cedar and smoke that clung to him, I could feel something else - the faint echo of the temple. The Goddessâs touch. The wrongness sheâd burned into me to make things right.When I turned my head, the room blurred. The moonlight through the window rippled, shifting like it was made of water instead of air.And then I heard her.âYou did well.âThe voice wasnât o
Damon POVRayna was cold in my arms. Too cold.Her body felt like marble, her skin kissed by frost. But her pulse - thank the Goddess - still beat, steady and strong, beneath my fingertips.I didnât think. I just lifted her, holding her tight to my chest, and left the temple behind.The guards at the door straightened when they saw me, eyes wide, but I didnât stop to explain. The air outside had changed - the night itself felt muted, thick, as if the world was holding its breath.The hum that had haunted the temple was gone. But so was every sound that followed it.No wind. No crickets. Not even the faint heartbeat of the city beyond the walls. Just silence - vast and heavy.Rayna stirred faintly, her head turning against my shoulder. Her eyelashes fluttered, silver catching in the moonlight. âDamonâŠââIâve got you.â My voice came out rough, strained. I didnât care. âYouâre safe now. I swear it.âHer eyes half-opened, distant, like she was listening to something only she could hear.T
Rayna POVThe last note of Nytheraâs laughter still clung to the air - thin, sharp, like a needle through my spine - before it vanished.And then, for one heartbeat, there was peace.Then came the pull.Not the gentle tug of a dream or memory - this was a wrenching force, violent and deliberate. The world rippled around me.Damonâs voice broke through, raw and terrified. âRayna, no! Stay with me. Rayna!âI tried to answer. But my voice didnât make it past my lips.Everything around me distorted - the templeâs marble walls, the moonlit floor, the air itself bending as though it was made of water. His hands were on my shoulders, grounding me, shaking me, his voice echoing through the thick, drowning distance.âRayna! Open your eyes. Donât you dare-â I heard him. But it was fading. Like I was sinking.Light collapsed inward. The world folded. My body fell away. The silver void took me again.No gravity. No sound. Just the vast, endless shimmer. The space between worlds.But this time it
Rayna POVThe first thing I felt was cold. It clung to me like frost, sinking under my skin even though I was sweating. The temple floor was hard beneath me - smooth marble veined with silver light - and someone was shouting my name, voice sharp, frayed with panic.âRayna- gods, stay with me-â Damon. I knew that voice before I even opened my eyes. The bond trembled, faint but alive, a thread I clung to as I dragged myself back from whatever abyss Iâd fallen into.Light flared overhead. Not divine this time, but from the torches Kael mustâve lit. I blinked, gasping as faces swam into view: Damon, crouched beside me, his jaw tight; Kael and Lira behind him, both looking like theyâd seen a ghost. Maybe they had.âWhat happened?â My voice was raw, broken glass and breath. âHow long-ââSeconds,â Damon said quickly, but the muscle in his cheek jumped. âYou collapsed as soon as you stepped through the arch. Then⊠everything went to hell.âHe glanced toward the temple doors. The air still s
Rayna POVWhen I opened my eyes, there was no ceiling, no floor. Just light. Endless, rippling silver stretching in every direction like water under the moon. My body felt weightless, suspended between one breath and the next.My wolf was there before I even called for her. A shimmer of fur and gold eyes beside me, tail low, hackles raised.âWhere are we?â I whispered.She tilted her head, nose twitching. âNot the mortal realm. Not her temple, either.â Her voice was uneasy. Like she didn't like this either. âWeâre between.âA flicker passed through the air, and suddenly the light shifted - a pulse of warmth that pressed against my skin like sunlight through mist.And then the Moon Goddess appeared.She stepped out of the glow, her feet never touching the ground. Her eyes - that same endless silver - found mine, and I saw something there I had never seen before. Fear.âRayna,â she said softly, her voice carrying like the sea. âYou should not be here.âI dropped to one knee automatical







