Selene's POV
Darkness swallowed everything.
The forest that once breathed with life now groaned under a shroud of unnatural silence. My pulse hammered against my ribs, each beat echoing like a drum of defiance in the void. The world had dissolved into a blur of shadows and flickering black flames that licked the air like serpents.
"Selene, stay close!" Lucian's voice cut through the chaos, rough, commanding, desperate.
I could barely see him, only the faint golden glint of his eyes moving through the darkness. I reached for him, but before my fingers found his, something invisible slammed between us, throwing me backward. My body hit the ground hard, knocking the air from my lungs.
The stranger's laughter echoed, soft and venomous. "Running won't save you this time, Moonborn."
