*Maddox* How did we get to this point? I feel like the past seven months have gone by in a blur of activity, yet this moment, this devastation, has caught us all totally off guard. Rage burns through me as I guide my pregnant, physically and emotionally exhausted, mate through what is left of the town that surrounds the castle of Maatua. The storm has passed, but heavy rain still floods the streets. I keep an arm around Isla’s waist to steady us both as water rushes past us, soaking us nearly to the shins. Elijah is carrying Emery on his back behind us, the two of them talking in hushed whispers that are inaudible over the sound of the rain pelting the gnarled debris that continuously blocks our path. And all of this for what? Is this really about the Goddess’s necklace that Isla ha