Chapter 44
Seph
I woke up in the mud.
It covered me from head to toe. I struggled to my feet and tried to walk, but the drug was still in my system and my legs wobbled beneath me.
Above the bank, I could see vehicles on the road. Bright red lights flashed through the trees, bathing the forest in bursts of colour.
Maybe Kieran’s back.
My stomach twisted violently. I bent over and retched.
When there was nothing left, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and started climbing the bank. I slid down twice before finally reaching the road.
That was when I saw the symbol of the Sun.
Soldiers of Light had taken over the compound.
Fuck.
I stumbled backward and turned to run. I managed a few hundred metres before a voice rang out behind me.
“There! That’s the Quinn girl! Stop her!”
My legs felt like they belonged to a newborn colt. I tripped over roots and branches, scrambling deeper into the woods.
They were gaining on me. At least five of them, dressed in white with reflective helmets.
I slipped down a muddy bank and splashed into a freezing creek. The cold shocked through my body as I struggled across.
“Stop! We will shoot you!”
A gun cracked behind me.
I ducked instinctively and ran blindly, gasping for air.
“Help!” I tried to scream. “Kieran!”
But my throat was raw. All that came out were broken gasps.
“Kieran!”
I clawed my way up the far bank, but the mud was too thick. My boots slid uselessly, dragging me back down.
Below me, the soldiers spread out along the creek.
“We aren’t here to hurt you, Miss Quinn,” one of them called. “We just want to take you home.”
Home.
Where was home?
I thought of Ash.
Dev.
Kieran.
Sy.
A sob tore out of me. “Please!”
Suddenly one of the soldiers jerked violently, as if someone had punched him in the face.
A gun lifted into the air beside him.
It fired.
The soldier dropped.
The others shouted in alarm, firing wildly into the trees.
Whatever was out there moved like a whisper through the dark.
One soldier’s legs were kicked out from beneath him. Another gasped as a blade struck his throat. A third was tripped and shoved face-first into the mud before a shot rang out above him.
Then silence.
I could only stare in horror.
When the last body fell still, I looked up.
Sable shimmered into view.
“Quickly,” she said. “We have to run.”
She rushed toward me and grabbed my arm, hauling me up the bank.
“Where are we going? Where’s Kieran?”
“He’ll meet us soon. Come on, Seph. They will find us if you don’t move.”
“How will he know where we are?”
“We have a system! Don’t worry about it Seph.”
Don’t worry about it.
The words sent a strange chill down my spine.
I didn’t know why.
Maybe because I had heard them before. The night Sable faked her death.
I followed Sable deep into the darkness, through a path only she seemed to know.
One that took us far away from the compound.
“How do you know where you are going?” I breathed.
“I know these woods like the back of my hand. Come on, we have to hurry if we want to get to the meeting place on time.”
“Are we meeting Kieran?”
“He had to stay back at the compound. He’ll see us soon.”
Something else bugged me.
In my mind, I caught the flash of a memory. Of only a few days ago.
The morning Dev and Elliot had gone to meet Mother.
I had looked down into the valley and seen something strange—sparks of light and a shadow that vanished into thin air.
I’d passed it off as an illusion. A hallucination.
But I had just seen the same thing happen again.
Sable had chosen not to go with Dev and Elliot that morning. She had stayed behind at the compound.
So where had she gone?
“Can we call Kieran?” I asked breathlessly. “Do you have a phone?”
“I lost it back at the compound. What, Seph? What’s your problem?”
She sounded irritated.
Another memory flickered to life in my mind.
The night Jess was framed for the fire.
Jess had sworn the force came out of nowhere — something invisible that knocked her flat before she could react.
Invisible.
“Phantom,” I said out loud.
Sable glanced at me, something unreadable flashing across her face.
“Yeah?”
“That’s your call sign… right? You said that.”
“You know it is.”
Dots were connecting in my mind.
At the meet, Libertarians had come out of nowhere. Like they had been waiting for us.
Tonight, Sable had been part of a team that left me alone in the compound.
And Libertarians had come in again.
“How did they know I would be there alone?” I spoke aloud.
The Equinox isn’t what you’ve been told.
When she first said that I thought she was supporting their cause.
The injustice out there is real. Entire populations crushed. Lives erased. All of it sanctioned by the Council of Light.
“We must have a spy. Someone who knew we would be out tonight.”
I looked at her.
For the first time, I really saw her.
I stopped walking.
She turned slowly toward me.
Even in the dark forest she was beautiful. Her golden hair was tied back in a tight braid, her blue eyes bright and steady. The hood pulled low over her head hid her aura from me.
But I could see her now.
I remembered the way I used to worship her. When I was younger, I thought she could do anything.
“How long, Sable?”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped.
“How long have you been working with the Libertarians?”
For a moment I thought she would laugh. That she would scoff at me.
God, I wanted her to.
But instead, her face went calm.
She drew in a slow breath.
“I always knew you were smart, Seph,” she said quietly. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”
“You love me? That’s all you can say to me?” I whispered.
“Yes. Of course I love you.” Her voice sharpened. “Seph, you’re probably one of the only people in the world I do love. That’s why this had to happen.”
She stepped toward me.
I stepped back.
“You were going to hand me over to the Libertarians.”
Sable exhaled slowly.
“Seph… little sister. I know you. Better than anyone.” Her voice softened. “I’ve watched you struggle with your power for years. Years. Wanting contact. Wanting love.”
Her eyes burned into mine.
“Love you can never truly have.”
“But this… what Cara is doing… it gives you something greater.”
“A purpose.”
I shook my head. “No, Sable. Don’t try to justify this to me—”
“Think about it!” she snapped, sudden fervour lighting her eyes. “We could stop everything. This war. The Light and all their power games.”
She stepped closer again.
“We could destroy them all. Instantly.”
Her voice dropped to a breath.
“And finally… finally there could be balance in this world.”
“That’s not balance, Sable. That’s genocide,” I swallowed. “You are deciding who lives and who dies and that isn’t right.”
“Seph, the Light has to be stopped.” Sable’s voice trembled with intensity. “Dominic Lightwood. Ian Redgrave. Mother and Father — all of them. They’re a cancer on this world.”
Her eyes burned.
“And if we don’t cut the cancer out, it will spread. It will rot everything.”
I stepped back again.
“Do you even hear yourself, Sable?” I said, my voice shaking. “Innocent people are going to die, and you don’t even care!”
“Innocent?” she snapped. “Who is innocent, Seph? Tell me.”
She gestured wildly toward the compound behind us.
“Everyone out there benefits from the Light,” Sable said, gesturing toward the compound behind us. “From the suffering they cause. No one is innocent.”
Her voice hardened.
“Even Elliot wants to work with them one day. As if he could ever change anything.”
Then her tone softened suddenly.
“Not like you can.”
My stomach dropped.
“I know what you are,” she said softly. “How pure your power is.”
Her eyes lit with something almost reverent. “Cara told me. Marr kept files on you—pages of them.”
Her gaze locked onto mine. “Seph… you were meant for this.”
She stepped closer, almost pleading now.
“You were born for it. I’ve seen it.”
I kept shaking my head. “I’m not a weapon to be wielded, Sable.”
“Yes, you are. You just haven’t accepted it yet.” Her voice gentled again. “I know you don’t want this. I know you , Seph.”
She took another step toward me.
“You keep hoping your body will change. That the power under your skin will settle.” Her eyes implored me. “But it won’t. It can’t.”
“Because you aren’t like us,” she said softly. “You were made for something more.”
She glanced at me carefully.
“Ash, Dev… even Kieran. They all see it.”
Another step closer.
“They’ll understand.”
Something in her voice felt wrong. Almost apologetic.
My stomach twisted.
“What did you do to Kieran, Sable?”
She shook her head lightly.
“Nothing he won’t survive. He’s much stronger than you think.”
“Did you hurt him?” My voice trembled. “Please tell me you didn’t hurt him – “
“No, of course not. Just a distraction.” She smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, Seph. I’ll take care of him. I’ll take care of all of them. I promise I’ll keep them safe. Even Ash.”
Ash.
My heart lurched.
I pulled my remaining glove from my hand and threw it to the ground.
“Stay back, Sable.”
She hesitated for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“You won’t hurt me, Seph.”
Tears streamed down my face. My whole body trembled.
“Please, Sable. Don’t make me do this.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” Her voice was almost gentle. “One day I’m going to tell your story.”
Her eyes shone with feverish excitement.
“It will be incredible. You’ll be remembered as a goddess.”
She tilted her head slightly. “Tell me that isn’t awesome.”
“Let me go, Sable.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
She flicked her hand.
A ring of ultraviolet fire burst to life around me.
Heat slammed into my skin.
“I can take this power,” I said, my voice shaking. “You know that.”
The air vibrated around me as my power stirred. I felt it coursing under my skin.
She smiled sadly.
“I know you can.”
Her eyes softened.
“But you won’t. Because we both know what happens after.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“So, it’s up to you.”
“Do you want to stay on your feet… or on your knees?”
Something cracked behind me.
I turned—
A sharp sting struck the side of my neck.
A dart.
Warmth flooded through my body and my legs buckled. The ring of flames around me flickered and died.
“Easy now, little sister,” she murmured. “It will all make sense soon, I promise you.”
I felt her kiss my forehead.
“You’re going to change the world.”
The last thing I remembered was Sable’s face.
Smiling at me.