Aria’s POV.....

The smell of blood clung to the air long after the last scream faded.

The celebration fire had burned down to embers, leaving only smoke and ruin. The courtyard that had been filled with laughter only hours ago was now scattered with bodies — some still, some groaning in pain. The rogues and vampires had withdrawn at dawn, vanishing into the forest as suddenly as they had come, but their mark remained everywhere.

I stood in the middle of it all, the cold morning ...