Page 112 of The Shadow Sanctum

Raven finishes her speech, her voice echoing through the square. “By blood and by trial… let the ceremony begin.”

CHAPTER 32

SAWYER

Something’s wrong with Luna.

I see it the second Aurelius distances himself. The way her knees buckle, the tremor in her jaw, the glassy sheen in her eyes. She hides it well enough that most of the Sanctum only sees defiance, but I’ve watched her too long not to know better.

The crowd doesn’t notice, not yet. They’re too busy stomping, too busy trying to convince themselves this is just another ceremony. But the sound doesn’t rise like it usually does. It’s off, ragged at the edges. No one really wants to be here.

Aurelius steps forward. Slow and deliberate. His hands raised. His voice calm. “This is not vengeance, my children. This is balance. By trial, we purge corruption. By trial, we grow stronger.”

He circles Luna like a vulture.

She sways on her feet but straightens her spine to meet him head-on. She looks like she always has—stone-faced, untouchable. But I see the way her fingers twitch, like she’s fighting her own body just to stay upright.

My stomach plummets.

He lunges first.

A hard strike across her jaw sends her staggering. She catches herself, barely. Her hair falls like a veil across her face.

The crowd murmurs. Someone near me whispers, “What’s wrong with her?” Their tone isn’t triumphant. It’s fearful.

I clench my fists as my teeth grind. Another hit lands, this one across her ribs, the sound cracking even over the stomp of feet. She doesn’t cry out, doesn’t even wince, but she moves slower when she steadies herself. Too slow.

“Get up!” I shout when she drops to her knees after a brutal kick to the thigh. My voice tears out of me before I can stop it, raw and desperate.

Her head snaps toward the sound. Our eyes lock. For just a second, I see the girl in the cave, defiant even in chains. The Luna who stared me down and said she’d never break.

A Keeper steps in front of me when I push toward the circle. He shakes his head once, low and firm. I shove against him, but two more move in with iron grips on my arms.

I could fight them. I want to fight them. But I can’t get to her without being cut off before I take three steps.

Angel’s already gone. He took Luna’s cat with him and is supposed to meet us two towns over where he’ll call the police. It’ll be hours before they show up, even if everything goes right. There’s no cavalry coming.

It’s just her.

Luna staggers back to her feet. Her chest heaves and her eyes blaze even as her body betrays her. Aurelius grips her by the throat and twists until she crumples to her knees again.

There isn’t a chance that anyone believes she’s truly beat.

“He did something to her!” I yell to the crowd. But no mob forms. Confusion is all around, but no one is brave enough to stop this.

I crouch low against the barrier of Keepers. My voice breaks across the circle. “For them, Luna!” I point to the crowd. “For me!”

Her lips part. Her fingers curl.

And something shifts in her eyes.

Her body jolts like she’s been struck by lightning.

In one sharp twist, she slams her heel down on Aurelius’s foot. His grunt is sharp, guttural, and the chokehold around her neck loosens. She surges upward with a force I didn’t think she had left and drives her elbow into his ribs.

The crowd gasps, and a ripple cuts through the unease like a spark to dry grass.

Aurelius stumbles back a step, clutching his side. His eyes flare with shock before narrowing into a cold, deadly smile. But the people aren’t smiling. For the first time tonight, they cheer—not for him. For her.