THE UNBROKEN

Nearly twenty-four hours passed.

No word. No sign.

Niegal and Elena hadn't shown for council. They hadn't responded to their guards. No word from their home. It was unlike them. Unthinkable.

Aurora and Alejandro were the first to grow concerned. Together, they made the walk toward the Matteo bungalow, unease rising like a storm tide.

Aurora's breath caught in her throat when they reached the final steps.

The door… was wide open.

The bottle of wine lay on its side, its dark red contents staining the wooden floor like blood.

Alejandro moved first, rushing inside. His footsteps echoed. His breath quickened.

"Elena!" he called. "Niegal!"

He found them.

Both sprawled out on the floor.

Unmoving.

Elena was closer—face down, one arm outstretched as if reaching toward Esperanza's room.

He bolted inside the nursery.

It was empty.

No bouncing curls. No soft babbling. No crib songs.

Only a note.

His hands shook as he picked it up.

We have her.

If you wish to see the child whole again, the Stormbearer and her Lion will come to Veracchia.

Alone.

Alejandro stepped back out, just as Aurora entered behind him.

She took one look at the scene, at the wine, the bodies, the empty crib, and collapsed to her knees.

Her scream ripped through the bungalow, through the camp, through the swamp.

A scream that made birds take flight. A scream that made even the guards drop their weapons and run toward the sound.

The swamp itself seemed to hear.

Elena stirred.

A spark danced at her fingertips, wild, uncontrolled.

Her eyes blinked open, and she groaned. "Hnnn…"

Her mind was thick. Her body heavier than stone. But she heard Aurora sobbing. And she felt… absence.

No heartbeat.

No warmth.

No child.

"Esperanza…" she mumbled. "No… no… no."

Her limbs moved sluggishly, like she was underwater. But the moment she registered her daughter's absence fully, her body reacted.

Magic exploded around her.

Niegal stirred next, groaning low, forcing his body upright. "Elena…" He blinked toward her. "The wine…"

He knew.

They both knew.

"They took her…" Elena whispered hoarsely, tears running down her face. Her voice cracked, stumbling through the words.

Aurora crouched beside her, trying to support her. "We'll find her. We'll get her back-"

But it was too late.

The storm had already started.

Elena's entire body began to glow with crackling violet light. Her spiral scars burned through her skin, casting sickly luminous patterns across the room. Her scream of anguish erupted like thunder, shattering the quiet.

The water below the bungalow surged and slammed upward. The cypress trees shook.

The sky boiled dark.

And in that moment there was no Elena.

Only La Doña Guabancex.

And she had been provoked.