Luna Everleigh's POV
***
Power surged through me, a current of silver light that coursed through every vein, every breath, every thought.
For the first time, it wasn't foreign. It wasn't something I had to control or fear.
It was mine.
The abyss around us trembled. The darkness that had once threatened to consume me recoiled, no longer a predator but something lesser.
Seraphine staggered back, her lips curling in a snarl. "No," she whispered. "This isn't possible."
I took a step forward, my bare feet no longer sinking into shadows but hovering just above them, weightless. The energy that flowed through me was not the Lunar Guardian's celestial power—Selene's blessing was gone.
But in its place, something greater had awakened.
A new force.
Something ancient.
Something endless.
Seraphine's fingers twitched at her sides, and in the next breath, she lunged, darkness unfurling from her like ravenous wings.
I raised a hand.
Light erupted.
The shadows shattered on impact, dissolving like mist in the morning sun.
Seraphine screamed.
I met her gaze, my own voice steady. "You don't understand what you're wielding, Seraphine. Morganna's power was never about darkness."
Her pupils dilated. "Shut up."
I shook my head. "It was grief."
The moment the words left my lips, something in the air shifted.
Seraphine faltered.
I could feel her fury—her hatred, her obsession—but beneath it, something deeper.
Something wounded.
"You think you've mastered it," I said, stepping closer, "but you've only let it control you."
Seraphine's breath hitched. A flicker of hesitation—just for a second.
And that was all I needed.
The silver glow around me expanded, a luminescent storm, and when I moved, I wasn't just Luna Sinclair.
I was something more.
I was the Moonlit Empress.
And I wasn't fighting alone.
—
***
To be continued...