Aria's POV
"No." The word rips from my throat. "No, no, no—Kira, stay with me!"
My best friend collapses against me, her skin burning hot even through her dress. I lower us both to the ground, cradling her head in my lap. The silver light from my hands reflects in her terrified eyes.
"It hurts," she gasps. "Aria, it hurts so much."
"I know, I know." My voice cracks. "Just breathe, okay? Just keep breathing."
But even as I say it, I can feel the curse working through her. Like invisible claws tearing through her insides. And somehow—impossibly—I can sense it happening. Feel every spike of pain like it's my own.
This is my fault. My power. My curse.
"Make it stop," Kira begs, clutching my arm. "Please, make it stop."
"I don't know how!" Tears blur my vision. "I don't know what I'm doing!"
The blood moon pulses overhead, and with each pulse, Kira's fever spikes higher. Her breathing gets faster. Shallower.
She's dying. Right here in my arms, my best friend is dying because of what I am.
"Think!" I tell myself frantically. "There has to be a way to—"
Magic surges through me without warning. Hot and electric and angry. It flows from my chest down my arms, gathering in my glowing hands where they touch Kira's skin.
For a second, nothing happens.
Then Kira screams.
Her back arches. Her eyes roll back. The silver light pours into her like water filling a cup, and I try to pull away but I can't. My hands are stuck to her skin like they're glued there.
"Stop!" I scream at the magic. "You're killing her!"
But the power doesn't listen. It keeps flowing, keeps burning, until—
Suddenly, it reverses.
Instead of pouring into Kira, the magic pulls back. It sucks the fever out of her body, drawing the curse away like poison from a wound. I feel it returning to me, settling back into my chest where it came from.
Kira goes limp in my arms.
"Kira?" I shake her gently. "Kira, please—"
She coughs. Her eyes flutter open. The terrible heat in her skin fades to normal temperature.
"What..." she whispers hoarsely. "What did you do?"
"I don't know." My hands are shaking so badly I can barely hold her. "I just wanted it to stop, and it did."
Kira sits up slowly, testing her arms and legs like she's not sure they still work. "The pain's gone. The fever's gone. I feel..." She touches her chest in wonder. "I feel normal."
Relief crashes through me so hard I almost sob. "Thank the Moon Goddess."
"Don't thank her yet," a cold voice says behind us.
We both spin around.
Selene stands at the edge of the dead forest, backed by a dozen warriors. Her silver dress glows pale in the blood moon's light, and her face is twisted with hatred.
"You can't save everyone," she continues, stepping closer. "Some of us will stop you first."
I push myself to my feet, moving in front of Kira. "Stop me from what? I didn't ask for this!"
"Liar!" Selene's voice rises to a shriek. "You've been planning this from the beginning! Using dark magic to trap Thorne, waiting for the perfect moment to destroy us all!"
"That's insane—"
"My father is dying!" Tears streak down Selene's perfect face, but her eyes stay hard and cold. "Beta Raymond is on the ground in that hall right now, bleeding from his eyes because of your curse! And you expect me to believe you're innocent?"
The warriors spread out, circling us. Their hands rest on their weapons. Some look angry. Others look scared. All of them look ready to attack.
"Selene, think about this," Kira says, her voice still weak. "If you hurt Aria, the curse might get worse. You could kill everyone."
"Or we end it right here." Selene pulls a silver dagger from her belt. The blade gleams red in the moonlight. "Kill the cursed girl, break the curse. Simple."
She's wrong. I know she's wrong. But looking at the determination in her face, I realize she doesn't care if it works or not.
She just wants me dead.
The warriors move closer. Ten of them against two of us, and Kira can barely stand.
Magic rises in my chest, hot and ready. The silver light blazes brighter from my hands. The ground beneath my feet cracks.
"Don't come any closer," I warn.
Selene laughs. It's an ugly sound, full of pain and rage and jealousy. "Or what? You'll kill us like you killed Julia? Like you're killing everyone in that hall right now?"
"I didn't want any of this!"
"But you have it!" Selene screams. "You have the power! You have Thorne's attention! You have everything that should be mine!"
She lunges forward with the dagger.
I don't think. Don't plan. I just react.
Magic explodes from me like a shockwave. It hits Selene and throws her backward twenty feet. She crashes into a dead tree, which cracks and falls on top of her.
The warriors freeze, staring at me with pure terror.
"I told you not to come closer," I say quietly.
Then the earth beneath the warriors splits open. Not wide enough to swallow them, but wide enough to trap them. Roots burst from the cracked ground, wrapping around their ankles and holding them in place.
I didn't mean to do that either. The magic just... did it on its own.
Protecting me.
"Aria." Kira's hand finds mine. "We really need to go."
She's right. We need to reach Grandmother's cottage. Need answers. Need help.
But as we turn to run, I hear Selene screaming behind us.
Not in pain. In rage.
"You can't run forever, Moonshadow! The pack will hunt you! They'll tear you apart!"
Her words chase us into the dying forest.
We run hard, dodging fallen trees and jumping over cracks in the earth. The blood moon lights our way, turning everything red and nightmarish. My lungs burn. My legs ache. But I don't stop.
Can't stop.
Behind us, I hear more voices. More footsteps. They're coming after us. Probably more warriors. Maybe even Thorne himself.
"There!" Kira points ahead. "I see the cottage!"
Grandmother's small house appears through the dead trees. But something's wrong. The windows are dark. No smoke from the chimney. No lights.
We burst through the front door.
"Grandmother!" I call out. "Grandmother, where are—"
I freeze.
She's lying on the floor beside her rocking chair. Her skin is pale as snow. Her breathing is so shallow I can barely see her chest moving.
"No." I drop to my knees beside her. "No, please, not you too."
Grandmother Celia's eyes flutter open. They look cloudy, unfocused. Like she's seeing something far away.
"Aria," she whispers. "My little moon. It finally happened."
"What happened? What's wrong with you?" I grab her hand. It's cold as ice.
"The curse... it affects our bloodline too." She coughs, and blood flecks her lips. "We stole our own magic away, sealed it. Now it's coming back... and we're not strong enough to hold it."
My heart stops. "What are you saying?"
"I'm dying, child." She smiles, but it's sad. So sad. "We both knew this day would come. I just hoped... I hoped you'd be ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To choose." Her grip tightens on my hand. "You can save them, Aria. Complete the bond with Thorne. Forgive him. The curse will break, and everyone lives."
"But?"
"But you'll lose the power. All of it. You'll go back to being nothing. Powerless. At their mercy again." Tears leak from her cloudy eyes. "Or you can let the curse finish. Let them all die. Keep the power. Be free."
The choice Magnus mentioned. The impossible choice.
"There has to be another way," I beg. "There has to be—"
"There isn't." Grandmother's breathing rattles. "Choose quickly, little moon. Because I won't be here to guide you much longer."
Her eyes close.
Her hand goes limp in mine.
And outside, the blood moon pulses three times fast—like a warning.
Like a countdown.