The Sculptor's Silent Choir

In the heart of Florence, where art breathes and whispers secrets, sculptor Vittoria Blanchard shapes a world far beyond the realm of ordinary perception.  Her creations, born from Carrara marble, possess an unsettling gift — they don't just mimic life, they foresee it.  A subtle shift in a marble hand, the flicker of an eye, and destinies yet to unfold are revealed. But Vittoria's art doesn't merely predict fate; it holds the power to shape it, a gift as wondrous as it is terrifying.
When her latest masterpiece, a young boy cradling a dove, contorts in a silent scream of terror, Vittoria is thrust into a desperate race against time.  The boy, Emilio Rossi, is not a victim of fate, but a pawn in a game older than the city itself — a ritualistic sacrifice orchestrated by the resurrected Cult of the Severed Dove, a sect steeped in Florence’s darkest history.
Joined by Dr. Shelley Levy, a disgraced art historian obsessed with the hidden language of Renaissance masterpieces, and John Ellis, a cynical journalist determined to expose Vittoria as a fraud, they plunge into a world where art and reality blur. As they unravel cryptic symbols and forgotten texts, they uncover a conspiracy that reaches the highest echelons of Florentine society.
With the winter solstice fast approaching, the date foretold in Emilio's marble premonition, Vittoria must confront the true nature of her gift.  Each chisel stroke becomes a gamble, every premonition a potential manipulation of fate. The escalating demand for her prophetic art threatens to consume her, the whispers of her sculptures morphing into a deafening cacophony. Can she silence the clamor and embrace her artistic essence, or will she succumb to the seductive power of control, condemning Emilio to a grim fate?
Beneath the shadow of the Palazzo Vecchio, in a hidden chamber steeped in ancient ritual, Vittoria, Shelley, and John must confront the cult and their terrifying leader. As the lines between creation and destruction blur, Vittoria must choose: exploit her gift or embrace her responsibility, transforming her silent choir into a symphony of hope, a testament to the enduring power of art and the resilience of the human spirit.