Chapter 160

CHAPTER 4... VALENTINA The night was too still. Even the wind outside the Sanctuary of Dawn seemed to hold its breath, caught between reverence and unease. The Moonwell’s glow filtered through the carved lattice of my chamber, painting pale ribbons of light across the marble floor. Andres had fallen asleep beside Luciano, his arm protectively draped around our son’s small frame. But I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that ripple again — the way the shadow beneath the Moonwell had twisted, the voice whispering my child’s name as if it had known him before he even existed. Luciano murmured softly in his dreams, a faint shimmer pulsing beneath his skin — the mark of Gemini blood, the balance of light and shadow that defined him. I brushed a kiss across his curls and rose quietly, stepping into the corridor. The Sanctuary was ancient, built by those who had once worshipped the Moon Goddess in her dual form — Luna and Noctis, Light and Shadow. The walls themselves seemed t