Chapter 62: The Half That Got AwayWhen they unbolted the mill door 10 minutes later, the valley was empty.No Turned. No snarls. No claw marks on the steel. Just a wide, clear path down Main Street, the charred remains of the pyre smoldering in the square, the fortress gates standing open, Elias gone, fled into the hills, powerless, alone.The Turned had marched east, in perfect, silent formation, thousands of them, following the silver-black trail of the half-Stone across the sky, answering Morrigan’s call. Only a few dozen feral, brain-damaged stragglers were left, wandering the back alleys, easy to put down.The next 12 hours were a blur of triage, tears, and digging.They buried the pack’s second-in-command, the three townsfolk who’d died in the square fight, and Sarah—an empty casket, Hale putting the silver dagger she’d killed Elias with inside, the new headstone he’d carved in the mill workshop reading SARAH HALE: BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, FIGHTER. SHE NEVER STOPPED PROTECTING HER

Chapter 64: The Road AmbushThe doppelgänger smiled.It was Lila’s smile. The same lopsided, gap-toothed grin she’d had when she lost her two front teeth in 2nd grade, falling off her bike chasing a stray cat. The same crinkle at the corners of her eyes. The same silver dimple in her left cheek.But her eyes were solid, glowing silver.She waved again, slow, deliberate, keeping perfect pace with the lead truck doing 70 miles an down the empty coastal highway. Zoe skipped next to her, pink dress fluttering in the wind, the tattered rabbit held loose in one hand, no sign of exertion, no sign they were even touching the asphalt.“Hit the gas,” Lila whispered, her throat tight, grabbing Hale’s arm. “Dad, go.”Hale didn’t hesitate. He floored the accelerator, the truck’s engine roaring, the speedometer climbing to 90, 100, the tires screaming on the hot tarmac. The second truck, driven by Cole, matched their speed, Kael yelling something over the radio that was lost to static.The two girl

Chapter 66: The Tomb of Regrets The ferry hit the rocks of Morrigan’s cove 10 minutes later, hard enough to snap the main mast, the hull splitting open along the keel, cold seawater pouring into the lower decks.They abandoned ship fast, scrambling over the side onto the sharp black volcanic rock of the shore, the Turned-creature dissolving back into hundreds of individual bodies that slithered back into the deep, Morrigan vanishing the second their boots hit land, leaving only the echo of her laugh.The Black Mount loomed above them, a jagged peak wreathed in mist, the hidden tomb of Morag Voss cut into its northern face, the entrance marked by two 20-foot stone statues of women with hooded faces, their hands outstretched, palms up.They had 90 minutes of daylight left. The venom in Mia’s arm was now at her shoulder, her breathing shallow, her fever spiking to 104, Jules dosing her with every antivenom herb she had left, her face tight with fear—they were running out of time.The t

Chapter 68: The Trial of the Mother’s Choice“The veil has changed her. The power, the dead souls, the endless cold — they ate the little girl I brought back a long time ago. Now there is only the Queen. And she will not stop until every living thing in every world kneels to her.”Morag’s voice broke on the last word. For the first time since she’d stepped out of the shadows, the 330-year-old witch looked her age. Tired. Hollow. Like she’d been carrying a weight so heavy it had crushed every part of her that wasn’t grief, one slow year at a time.She nodded at Mia, unconscious on the stone slab they’d dragged into the chamber, the black venom lines snaking up her neck, under her jaw, creeping toward her eyes. “I did not give Morrigan the whole of the first Stone. I kept the core shard. It is the only thing that can burn the Turned venom out of a living body without killing them. I hid it in the tomb’s inner sanctum the day she broke free of her prison. I knew… I knew one day someone l

Chapter 70: The Friend Who Was Never There Jules’s scream was so loud it cut through the chaos of the camp.She ran to Cole, dropping to her knees next to him, pressing her hands to the smoking hole in his shirt, her yellow healing Stone flaring so bright it lit up the whole hillside, pouring every ounce of power she had into him, sobbing, begging him to come back, don’t you dare leave me, don’t you dare, we were supposed to get married, we were supposed to have the quiet life, come back.The original Morrigan laughed, soft, cold, stepping over the younger version of herself, who was staring at her hands, confused, her power fading, the Stone on her chest dimming, realizing she’d never been anything but a puppet.“Cute,” the real Queen said, nodding at Jules. “The healer Stone. I wondered where that had gotten to. No matter. I will take it from her soon enough. I will take all of them.”Hale passed Zoe to Veyra, who held the little girl tight, the rabbit still clutched in Zoe’s hand