Daisy’s POV"Silas," I said quietly.He stepped into the tower slowly. "You remember me.""I remember everything."Dickson moved in front of me. "You don’t belong here."Silas smiled. "That’s where you’re wrong. I was born in this city. Just like her."Rosa raised her blade. "You were banished.""Banished," Silas repeated. "But not broken."Zuri stepped closer to me. "Mom, don’t let him touch you."Silas tilted his head. "The child speaks the truth. She sees far.""Leave now," Rosa warned."Or what?" he asked. "You’ll try to kill me again?""This time, I won’t miss it."He smirked. "You always miss what you don’t understand."Dickson’s POVI took one step forward. "You want her. Why?"Silas didn’t blink. "Because she’s the only one who can unlock the flame fully.""She won’t help you.""She already has," he said. "The mark is awake. The seal is broken. That’s all I needed."Daisy gripped my arm. "We have to stop him.""Too late," Silas whispered.He raised one hand.The ground beneath
Rosa’s POVThe last time I walked this far into rogue territory, Lycan was alive.Now I walked with his name burning inside me like a vow.Every step was a promise.A warning.A threat.The trees here were twisted, darker than I remembered. The air carried something foul—like blood that had dried long ago but never been washed away.Vera walked behind me. Two of our strongest warriors, Greer and Imani, followed closely. Quiet. Focused.We were looking for a cave the scouts marked.We were looking for **him**.Ignis.But I wasn’t just here for revenge.I was here for answers.And if I had to tear through a hundred rogues to get them, I would.\*\*“Are we close?” Vera asked, her voice low.I glanced at the map. “Just past that ridge.”She pulled her dagger tighter to her belt. “Good. Because I don’t like this place.”I looked around. “Neither do I.”Imani sniffed the air. “Wolves. Close.”“How many?” I asked.She frowned. “Too many.”I drew my blade.“Stay ready,” I warned. “This reeks
Daisy’s POVThe air was colder than usual. Maybe it was the wind. Or maybe it was fear.We left camp before sunrise.Zuri, Rosa, Vera, Lycan, Dickson, and me.Our destination was the **Crimson Wastes**—a dead forest burned in an ancient war, where Rosa believed Ignis might be hiding.No birds sang there. No animals walked. Just ash. Trees like skeletons. Smoke in the air, even though nothing burned.Zuri walked beside me, her hand in mine.“I’m not afraid,” she said.I squeezed her fingers gently. “I am.”She looked up at me. “Why?”“Because fire doesn’t choose randomly. If Ignis is watching you, it’s for a reason.”Zuri went quiet.I didn’t say more. But I could feel something changing inside her—growing stronger.And it scared me.Rosa’s POVWe reached the edge of the Wastes by noon.The land was black and broken.The trees had no leaves. The ground was cracked. The sky looked darker here.Vera pulled her jacket tighter. “This place smells like death.”“It is,” I said. “No life grow
Daisy’s POV / Zuri’s POV / Dickson’s POVDaisy’s POVI was cutting apples in the kitchen when Zuri screamed.Not crying.Not whimpering.Screamed.The knife dropped from my hand.I ran.“Zuri!”I threw the door open. She was on the floor of her room, holding her head, shaking.“Zuri! Baby, what’s wrong?”Her eyes were wide. Her lips trembled.“He’s here.”“Who?”She pointed to the window. “The man from my dreams.”I rushed to the window. Nothing.“Dickson!” I shouted.He came running.“What happened?”“She saw something again. She says he’s here.”Zuri clutched my hand. “He’s not outside. He’s… inside.”Dickson turned. “Inside the house?”“No,” she whispered. “Inside someone’s head.”Zuri’s POVI didn’t know how to explain it.He was whispering again.Not in my ears, but inside my mind.“He says the moon is dying,” I told Mom.She stared at me. “Zuri, what does that mean?”I looked at her. “He’s coming when it turns black.”Dickson knelt beside me. “Zuri, focus. What did you see?”“A
Daisy’s POV“What We Choose To Feel”It was the silence after storms that always scared me most.The stillness wasn’t peace.It was waiting.I sat alone on the edge of the porch, the night heavy with dew. Stars overhead blinked lazily, uncaring of the chaos that had passed.Zuri was asleep.Tobi too.For the first time in what felt like years, there were no screams, no knives, no blood pooling in corners of rooms we once called safe.Just this moment.And me.Then the door creaked behind me.I didn’t have to turn to know it was him.“Couldn’t sleep either?” Dickson asked quietly.I shook my head.He stepped beside me, barefoot, shirt clinging to him from the heat of the house. There was a tiredness in his eyes, but something more—a tightness in his jaw, a quiet storm behind those eyes.We didn’t speak for a while.Not because we had nothing to say.But because we were finally ready to say everything.“Zuri told me something today,” I whispered.He glanced over. “What was it?”“She sai
Daisy’s POV“Shadows Don’t Fade”The moon had barely faded from the sky when I felt it—that strange stillness that usually meant trouble.I sat up in bed, blinking the sleep from my eyes.Dickson stirred beside me. “What is it?”“Something’s wrong,” I said, already pulling on my hoodie.He sat up too. “Another attack?”“No. Not outside,” I whispered. “Inside.”I moved down the hallway, every step quiet. Tobi and Zuri’s room was at the far end. I opened the door slowly.Zuri was gone.My heart stopped.Then a whisper.“Mom?”She stood by the window, arms wrapped around her stuffed bunny.“Zuri!” I rushed to her. “What are you doing?”She looked up at me. “He’s watching us.”I knelt beside her. “Who?”“The man from before. The one who hides now.”My blood turned cold.“Lycan?” I asked carefully.She shook her head. “No. Someone worse.”Dickson’s POVThe air had that old scent—metallic, bitter, wrong.I stood on the porch while Daisy checked Zuri again.Kelvin approached, gun slung over