Kael's POV
Sleep didn't come easily that night. Every time I closed my eyes, her face found me — Soraya, in chains, her voice fading before I could reach her. The image of it burned through me like poison. The sky had turned red. The moon had bled. And I hadn't been there to stop them.
I failed her.
The thought carved itself deeper with every breath I took. I was supposed to save her, to bring her out of there — but I was too late. Now they've killed her before I could even save her. Now the red moon would forever remind me of that failure, a scar across the heavens that no amount of regret could wash away.
I reached for my phone, its dim glow slicing through the dark. My fingers swiped through the gallery until I found her — Maya. Her smile, her eyes, the warmth she carried so effortlessly. The one person I could still save.
"I'll find you," I whispered to the screen. "No matter what it takes."
The promise lingered in the silence. Eventually, exhaustion pulled me under.
