Three days after the hunt began, I could feel every fragment of my scattered power like individual stars in a vast constellation—some burning bright and steady, others flickering as their temporary hosts struggled with abilities they'd never been meant to possess. The voluntary consolidation process was working, but it was taking a toll on everyone involved, especially me.
*Mama's getting all wobbly again,* Stella observed from her perch on Dante's shoulders as we made our way through the Sanctuary's expanded communications center. She wasn't wrong—maintaining conscious connection with over four hundred supernatural beings while helping them learn to control fragments of Moonfire magic was pushing me beyond every limit I'd ever tested.
"Luna." Dante's voice carried the careful neutrality
