The night after the Mirror Gate closed was eerily silent.

No celebration followed Elena’s return. No cheers echoed from the Moonstone Sanctuary. Only stillness clung to the air like fog—as if the world held its breath, waiting.

Aria stood alone at the edge of the sanctuary’s highest balcony, where moonlight spilled like silver rain over the forest. Her hands gripped the stone railing until her knuckles ached. Caleb’s scent still lingered in her skin, in her hair, and her heart beat a ...