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“S tay close to the wall,” I told Micah, pointing toward the archway. If something went wrong in the ritual, at least that would give him a chance to flee. “And whatever happens, don’t cross into the ritual circle.”

Isador directed each of my consorts to their positions—Javier to the new moon sigil, Bastian to the full moon, Ash to the waxing gibbous, and Thane to the waning gibbous. The remaining phases—waxing and waning crescent, and first and third quarters—remained painfully empty. I felt those absences acutely, particularly the space where Gavin should have stood. The waxing crescent. I knew it without needing to be told.

In the back of my mind, I noticed a detail I hadn’t before—there were eight lunar sigils in the ritual circle, even though the standard harem size was seven. But my gut told me all eight spots were supposed to be filled.

“What exactly are we doing?” I asked, centering myself beneath the crystal moon.

Isador’s expression turned grave. “Connecting to the original warding magic laid down by Selene herself.” She crossed the line of the sigil circle, entering the ritual space. “The wards are failing because they’ve been supported by the magic of individual queens for too long. They need to be reconnected to their source—to Selene. To her magic.”

The implications settled heavily in my chest. Because as I’d shown in the graveyard, I could channel Selene’s divine power.

Another assault against the wards sent tremors through the chamber. The crystal moon dimmed momentarily before flaring back to life.

Isador touched my arm, pressing a vial into my hand. I knew it was Gavin’s blood tincture without having to look down. “This ritual requires communion to initiate the connection between you and the wards,” she said, glancing at Micah. “Focus on the blood. Just a little. Just to initiate the ritual.” She backed toward the edge of the circle. “The original wards will resist. They’ve grown wild over centuries of separation from their source. You must bend them to your will.”

With those cryptic instructions, she stepped out of the ritual circle, retreating to join Micah near the archway. Their expressions were nearly identical, both tense with worry—versus Reiji’s rapt attention from just beyond the archway. His eyes gleamed with barely contained fascination, tracking every movement of the ritual preparation.

Turning my back to them, I closed my eyes, centering myself as power began to build beneath my feet.

“Start with your Prime Consort,” Isador called from the edge of the chamber. “Work your way around the circle.”

I opened my eyes and moved toward Javier, his dark stare meeting mine with decades of devotion and carefully controlled fear. Through our bond, I felt his need to protect me from whatever was coming, even as he knew he couldn’t shield me from this burden.

I took his hand in mine, expecting the usual ignition of heat and need. But something had shifted since our last communion . Or maybe it was simply knowing that my son was in the room with us. As I brought Javier’s wrist to my lips, my teeth breaking skin with practiced ease, I found the desperate craving for physical connection oddly muted. The first taste of his blood, rich and familiar, filled me with warmth but not heat.

I drank slowly, taking just enough to feel his essence flowing through me before pulling away. When I offered my wrist in return, his teeth found my pulse with careful precision. The exchange carried none of our usual desperate passion, yet the connection felt deeper.

Silver light spiraled up from the sigil beneath his feet, drowning out the crimson glow, feeding into the crystal moon above.

The ritual pulled me forward, drawing me to the empty position where Gavin should have been. “I haven’t forgotten you,” I murmured as I unstoppered the vial of his blood tincture. I tilted it back, swallowing his essence, then held my wrist out, letting blood drip onto the floor where he should have stood.

The waxing crescent moon sigil flared silver, a beam of magic flowing toward the crystal moon just as it had happened at Javier’s position.

“It’s working,” Isador called. “Keep going!”

I moved to Ash next, fighting the urge to lean into him as he extended his wrist. His blood carried centuries of vigilance, grief transformed into strength. When he took mine in return, I felt the weight of his restraint, how he channeled his deepest pain into protecting others.

The waxing gibbous sigil beneath his feet shifted to silver, and once again, a moonbeam of magic shot upward. The chamber’s temperature dropped further as power surged between us, feeding into the crystal moon.

Bastian was next. Golden light writhed beneath the black of his tattoos as I approached, his beast close to the surface. I took his hand in both of mine, soothing the wild creature inside him with a gentle touch. His blood tasted of fields of wildflowers and babbling brooks sparkling with sunlight. When he took mine in return, I felt his beast finally calm.

Silver light threaded with strands of gold connected the full moon sigil beneath his feet to the crystal moon above, which pulsed faster as power built, sending patterns of light dancing across the chamber walls.

I moved to Thane, the last of my consorts, to finish the ritual. Through his blood, I glimpsed pathways between worlds, knowledge hiding in the spaces between heartbeats. And when he took my blood, the sigil beneath his feet flashed silver, and the crystal moon overhead flared blindingly bright.

The patterns on the floor spiraled up in columns of light, forming a complex lattice that stretched toward the ceiling. Yet the empty spaces in our circle throbbed with absence.

I returned to the center, kneeling beneath the crystal moon as its light washed over me in waves.

But something was wrong. The power built without direction, wild and unstable. The wards surrounding the Moon Sanctuary trembled under continued assault, absorbing trickles of our ritual’s energy but unable to properly weave it into the existing ward structure.

“It’s not working!” I called out, my voice echoing strangely through the charged air.

Isador stepped away from the wall, her copper eyes wide with alarm. “Bend the power to your will, Sophie!”

“The circle is incomplete.” Reiji’s voice carried from the archway, urgent and compelling. “The prophecy speaks of a star-born consort. I could be that for you. I could help strengthen the ritual.”

My consorts tensed, unified in their rejection of his offer.

“Stay back,” Javier warned, his voice deadly quiet.

But Reiji pressed his hand against the barrier, his voice carrying an edge of desperation. “The wards will fail without a full circle. Let me in—let me help you.”

I shook my head. Even with him, it wouldn’t be a full harem, so there was no point in binding him in haste.

Another tremor shook the sanctuary, stronger than any before. Dust rained from the ceiling as cracks appeared in the ancient stonework. Outside our protective circle, Micah pressed himself against the wall, the blood drained from his face.

“Mom!” he called out, using a name he had never spoken aloud to me. The sound of it sent a jolt through me, anchoring me to the physical world when the flow of magic threatened to sweep me away. I couldn’t fail. I could not .

I glanced toward Reiji, seeing the naked hunger in his eyes as he watched the power flow through me. Whatever his offer might truly mean, this wasn’t the moment to find out.

I reached out through my bonds with my consorts, drawing their energy toward me. Their power flowed through me like rivers to an ocean, filling spaces within me I hadn’t known existed. The gaps remained, three empty positions in our circle where power should have flowed but didn’t, but I was able to weave the flow of magic into a patch, mimicking the missing consorts. A poor stand-in. Barely functional, but if I shaped it just so…

The crystal moon’s light shifted, concentrating into a narrower beam that struck me directly. Pain lanced through my body as raw power flooded my system, more than in the graveyard with the queens. More than I’d ever channeled before. It burned through my veins like liquid fire, seeking release.

I cried out, my back arching as the power threatened to tear me apart from within. Through our bonds, I felt my consorts’ alarm spike.

“Mom!” Micah shouted.

“Stay where you are!” Isador commanded. “The flames will consume you!”

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t reassure him as the power built beyond what I could contain. My skin felt too small for what moved through me, ancient and raw. But the reminder that Micah was there anchored me, pulling me back from the edge of dissolution.

I raised my free hand toward the ceiling, toward the wards beyond, and released the gathered power in a controlled surge. Moonlight exploded outward from my palm, racing along invisible channels to the sanctuary’s boundaries. Where it touched the failing wards, they flared to life, ancient patterns reactivating with renewed strength.

The chamber went dark and quiet as the power drained away, feeding into the ward structure like water soaking into parched earth. Through some newfound sense, I felt the sanctuary’s defenses knitting themselves back together, closing the breaches that had formed during the attack. The tremors stilled as the wards stabilized, pushing back against whatever had been testing them.

I swayed on my knees, utterly wiped out. My consorts broke formation, rushing to my side. Javier reached me first, his arms encircling me with careful precision as Bastian hovered behind him. Ash and Thane formed a protective perimeter around us, their attention divided between me and the chamber’s entrance.

“Did it work?” I asked, my voice hoarse, as though I’d been screaming. Had I been screaming?

“Better than expected,” Isador replied, approaching cautiously, Micah at her side. “The wards are stronger than they’ve been in centuries…in places.”

“It was a patch,” Reiji said from the archway, his voice tinged with irritation. “A Band-Aid. Without your full circle, the solution is temporary.” His eyes met mine with renewed intensity. “You need what I offer, Sophie. Sooner than you think.”

Micah broke ahead of Isador, sliding to his knees beside Javier. “Are you okay?” he asked, scanning my face. “You were burning. We couldn’t even see you through the flames.”

I managed a weak smile, lifting a hand to his cheek. “I’m okay. Just tired.” I glanced at Isador. “Will the wards hold?”

She nodded. “For now.”