Page 103 of The Shadow Sanctum

“Enough!” Thorne growls as he forces himself to the basket only to be bucked back. He tries to step onto the stage, but a Keeper gets in his way. From the bottom step, he addresses the crowd. “Luna has been the Shadow Sanctum’s protector for years. She’s dedicated her life to our home, and for what? For all of you to turn against her?”

When a shoe flies at his head, he catches it and rips it to the ground, his face redder than I’ve seen it. “She is your true leader,” he shouts while objects hurl his way. “Aurelius is⁠—”

Clay smashes against his skull and knocks him back in a stumble until he trips off the step. Lying defenseless, people start to swarm.

“What do we do?” Angel asks like this is something I anticipated.

Out of my hundred and forty-three scenarios, Aurelius fucking over Luna made up a hundred and twenty.

But still, I feel unprepared.

I know the exit. I know what we need to do to leave before any challenge can occur. And in some ways, I hoped for something like this. For one last shove to push Luna away from this place for good.

But I wasn’t prepared to feel this sick about it.

“Sawyer.”

“We let it happen,” I say, too calm as Luna takes the steps to the stage. Her face is stone, her eyes ice. She’s exactly the way she looked the first time I saw her as Head Keeper. Heartless.

I stare at her in hopes that she’ll find me, find an anchor. If I could slap the stone off her face, I would.

Her voice slices through the roar. “Control yourselves!”

The crowd stumbles into silence, tension strung taut. Her presence alone pulls every eye, every breath, toward her.

“All will get a chance to throw down their clay.” Luna’s chin tilts, her voice steady but sharp. “I will meet every challenge with acceptance and honor.”

She steps toward the basket. Her hand reaches into her pocket and pulls out her own little pot of clay. She lifts it high enough that everyone in the back can see.

“But I have a challenge of my own.”

The words ripple through the crowd like a shockwave.

Her gaze cuts to Aurelius, the faintest curl of disdain tightening her mouth. “Fear does not command respect.” Her voice rises. “It only makes people whisper. And that is all Aurelius has given us. Fear. He’s ruled with it, poisoned with it, thrived on it.”

The crowd shifts uneasily. A few faces harden with anger, but others… others listen.

“My father does not protect this Sanctum. He does not guide it. He only devours it,” she continues. “And if I must die, so be it. Let it be known that the Shadow Sanctum is not a flock guided by a shepherd but a living organism that will thrive once freed from its master. If the universe decides I have one last fight in me, I’ll spend my last breath protecting my people from a virus deadlier than the sickness my father blames me for.”

Then she hurls the clay at her feet. It shatters in a burst of black dust that curls up and around her like a crown.

And in that moment, her eyes find mine.

The dust swirls, but I see her clearly. The set of her jaw. The fire in her stare. The Luna I know. The Luna I love.

The one who’s my equal but opposite.

Angel is right. If it weren’t for Luna, I’d be gone, even if that meant leaving him here. But Luna isn’t like me. She’d never leave her people without making sure they’d be okay. And with Aurelius, they never will be.

My heart sinks.

Because I know… She isn’t running. Not even for me.

Luna’s eyes move back to the crowd. Her voice carries with the certainty of a verdict. “The ceremonial fight will begin in one hour.”

A beat of silence. Then, calm and sorrowful, she adds, “Prepare yourselves, my friends.”

She steps down from the stage, dust curling in her wake. The sound of clay breaking returns, but I don’t stay to hear it.