The Luna's Contract

A P

t. A single moment when everything shifts,

ine to come wrapped in

rent notices, and cracked mirrors that barely reflected who I used to be. My name's Aria Hayes

I did, the dreams whispered of something I couldn't name. Something just out of re

, neon signs flickering, laughter spilling from rooftop bars. I kept my head down, my hands shov

the air, sharp and clean, though the sky hadn't opened yet. I like

mething

rom something else. A presence. A sensation I c

ng. Just a flickering streetlamp

ed at myself-u

lhouette carved from shadow. My feet stopped on instinct

deep and gravelly. Like smoke

He knew

ered. Dark hair cut close. But it was his eyes that stopped me cold-silver-

ying to sound braver than I felt. M

link. "Domi

the way he said it made it feel l

n looking

course, you have. Did one of the creeps at the diner pu

me in place. My feet wouldn't move. The air thic

his voice low now, intimate. "You're the key t

kind of scam, you picked the wrong girl

I caught the scent of something dark and clean-cedar,

g between us

ked. "

"You've felt it, haven't you? That sense you don't belong here. That pull dur

ead. "No. Th

s

r-bound book. Old, frayed at the edges. Something ancie

my fingers brushed his, a jolt sparked u

was

dn't

symbols I didn't understand. But in the center of one-the

r

and

tler now. "The prophecy speaks of your name.

I whis

This is your destiny. Whet

ing it back into his chest. "Whatever twis

back away. "It's not a fantasy. It

fast. He grabbed my wrist, and I gasped at the chill of his to

he said, holding me there, no

ntract?" My voic

ne. "A marriage contrac

augh. "You're o

hing you've ever questioned about yourself-I can g

le

ty breathin

g down like it knew

?" I asked, voic

your lonely life, still feeling out of place, s

Something in me-a buried piece that had always felt like a stranger in my own skin

" I whispered, "but I'm not some

waver. "You're not a

something to him

w what it me

omething inside me shifted. And I rea

ust the