Luna Everleigh's POV
***
The voices came first.
Whispers, murmurs, echoing through my mind like fragments of a dream I couldn't grasp. They curled around my consciousness, slipping between the cracks of who I was and who I might have been.
Then—pain. A sharp, searing sensation in my chest, as if something had been unlocked.
I gasped, jerking upright. My body trembled with the aftershock, sweat cooling on my skin. I was in my chamber, wrapped in the dim glow of candlelight. My heartbeat pounded in my ears.
A figure moved in the corner.
"Luna."
Nalia.
Her expression was unreadable as she stepped forward, her keen golden eyes scanning me with something between awe and fear.
Kael stood behind her, arms crossed. His gaze was sharper than usual, as if seeing me for the first time.
"What… happened?" My voice was hoarse.
Nalia exchanged a glance with Kael before speaking. "You tell us."
Flashes of memory struck me like lightning. The voice in my head. The pull inside me. Something ancient unraveling in my blood.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I felt something."
Nalia inhaled slowly. "That's because something inside you is awakening."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Kael shifted uncomfortably. "We ran some tests while you were unconscious." His voice was tight, controlled. "Your blood—it's not just unusual, Luna. It's nearly identical to the records of the Lunar Guardians."
I froze.
The Lunar Guardians.
Beings of myth. Protectors of the balance between the human world and the supernatural. Said to have vanished centuries ago.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
Nalia shook her head. "No, it's not. And if it's true, it changes everything."
A cold shiver ran down my spine. Because deep down, I knew they weren't wrong.
—
To be continued...