{AURORA'S POV}
MoonVeil was alive with sound, laughter and voices spilling through the cavernous sanctuary. Families I didn't know were already weaving themselves into this place, and I… I felt like a ghost drifting between them.
I wrapped my arms tight around myself as I walked the winding stone paths, my eyes searching for familiar faces. Kai. Vivienne. Eden. Ever since the gathering dispersed, I'd been looking for them. Without them, I felt untethered, lost in a sea of strangers.
The sanctuary was beautiful—light glimmering off crystal veins in the walls, bridges spanning glowing streams, the air heavy with enchantment—but beauty didn't keep the knot of unease from coiling in my stomach. This was a new home, yes, but it wasn't mine yet.
I rounded a bend too fast and collided hard into someone. My foot caught against the stone, and I stumbled, falling to the ground with a sharp gasp.
"Are you alright?" a voice asked.
