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    Aurora’s P.O.V

    I could feel the weight of the atmosphere shift, the air growing heavier as the house began to tremble. It wasn’t just the walls or the floor beneath our feet. It felt as though the very foundation of the ce was cracking, groaning under some unseen force. The intricate designs that had once graced the rooms around me were peeling away, their beauty now eroding like fragile paper left too long in the rain. The grand chandeliers swayed unnaturally, casting eerie shadows that seemed to move of their own ord.

    “Aurora, stay close,” Caleb’s voice cut through the chaos. His hand gripped my arm, pulling me to his side as chunks of debris tumbled from above. I barely had time to process the panic in his eyes before arge piece of ster came crashing down between us. He shoved me back, shielding me with his body as more debris fell from the ceiling, rattling the house as if it was a toy on the brink of being crushed.

    “Everyone, move!” Ashton’s voice rang out, his words a clearmand. I looked at him, my heart hammering in my chest. His eyes were dark with urgency. “The illusion’s breaking. The house isn’t what it seems—it’s all going toe down, and we need to get

    out, now!”

    I swallowed, the gravity of his words sinking in. The house was no longer a home. It was a trap, a facade ready to copse into nothingness. I didn’t have time to ask how he

    knew this or why. I just had to move.

    Damien and Caroline were already moving, though Caroline stumbled as the ground beneath us buckled. Without a second thought, Damien reached for her, his hand firm as he guided her forward. She didn’t argue, not that there was time for that, and together they pushed through the chaos. Caleb tightened his grip on my arm, urging me forward, but the floor was shifting beneath us, and I could hear the distant sounds of the walls cracking, threatening to swallow us whole.

    “Keep going!” Alpha Camden shouted again. He was already ahead, pushing through the debris with determination. His face was set, focused on the path ahead. I wanted to say something, but the words lodged in my throat, as if the house itself was squeezing the air from my lungs. It felt like an earthquake, like the entire structure was alive and

    fighting to hold itself together. But it wouldn’t. It couldn’t.

    I looked back just as anotherrge section of the ceiling fell. The sound of it was deafening, like the entire world was copsing into itself. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that one of the walls was buckling, ready to cave in. I turned back to Caleb, who had barely missed getting hit by a falling beam.

    We pushed forward, the house groaning louder now, and I could barely hear my own thoughts over the noise. The floor beneath me was buckling, the air thick with dust and debris. Caleb’s voice was the only thing grounding me, his words almost lost in the

    chaos.

    “We’re almost there,” Caleb said, though the strain in his voice told me he wasn’t so

    sure.

    We finally reached the door, the frame cracked and splintered, the hinges barely holding ollion. And as thest of the house’s illusion crumbled around us, I didn’t need to be told. I /li/ol

    knew. We had to get out–before it was toote.

    We rushed outside, the fresh air a sharp contrast to the stifling dust–filled atmosphere

    we’d just escaped. I copsed against the cool stone of the house’s outer wall, my body

    shaking from the adrenaline and the sheer panic of the moments that had passed. Caleb was right beside me, breathing heavily, but he wasn’t letting go of my hand, not even for

    a second.

    We made it out. But the question lingered: What happened to the witches who stayed

    behind? What about Lucas and Harmona?

    But in that moment a blinding light shot up toward the sky, and everything seemed to pause–time, breathb, /bthought. Gold and green shed violently, swirling together like two furious storms, and for a brief second, the world seemed to tilt beneath our feet. I barely had time to grasp what was happening before Ashton’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and demanding.

    “Shield yourselves!” Hismand echoed, filled with urgency. “There’s going to be a st when these two powers collide. You won’t be able to outrun it!”

    I felt the air crackle with the strange energy as the eclipse inched toward its end, but the

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    67

    light above us only grew more intense, pressing down with a suffocating weight. I didn’t think I just moved. Ashton’s voice snapped me into focus as he looked at me with a fierce expression, his eyes darting to my half–siblings and then to the others.

    “Gather around,” he shouted, already pulling the others together. “We need to make a shield. Do it now. Repeat after me.”

    I nodded, already reaching out for the hands of my brothers and sisters. The words Ashton chanted seemed to pulse through my chest, heavy with power. We stood in a circle, our palms pressed together, and as we began to chant in unison, the world around us seemed to tremble. But as I closed my eyes to focus, something suddenly felt off.

    Where was Violet?

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