Chapter 15
Theo
The kitchen hums with ordinary evening energy, but something feels off-balance.
Bree stands at the stove making dinner, stirring cheese sauce with absent movements while her mind clearly wanders elsewhere.
She's been quiet since we spoke this afternoon in her room, processing everything Thane and Stellan revealed.
Jace sets the table with restless energy, silverware clinking against plates as he moves.
Rhett organizes tomorrow's work supplies by the back door—mundane tasks that feel necessary when everything else feels uncertain.
Gray leans against the counter, ostensibly reading something on his phone but really watching Bree like he's cataloging every small change in her expression.
I notice all of it, the careful distances and unspoken tensions. But what draws my attention most is the way the Ether flickers around Bree's ankles—restless, aware, responding to thoughts she's not sharing.
It's not fear, I think, watching silver tendrils curl and retreat. It's anticipation. Like it knows something we don't.
I'm drying dishes when the vision hits.
Sharp and sudden, yanking me out of the kitchen and into something that feels more real than the plate slipping from my hands.
The six of us walking away from the house.
Morning light too bright, too quiet. Bree moving toward something old and half-buried in overgrowth—stone foundations choked with ivy and decades of neglect.
Thane walking ahead of us, Stellan at her shoulder like a pale guide.
The rest of us following, drawn by something stronger than choice.
Something waits for her there. Not a threat. A memory.
I blink back to the present, breath hitched, the dish towel twisted in my white-knuckled grip. The plate I dropped lies in pieces on the floor.
"Theo?" Bree's voice cuts through the lingering images. "What happened?"
Everyone's looking at me now—Jace pausing mid-reach for another fork, Rhett straightening from his supply sorting, Gray's attention sharp and immediate.
I hesitate, sorting through what I saw versus what I should say. "I had a vision."
The kitchen goes quiet except for the soft bubble of cheese sauce on the stove.
"Of what?" Bree asks, wooden spoon forgotten in her hand.
"Us." I set the towel down carefully, meet her eyes. "Leaving. Tomorrow morning."
"Leaving for where?" Gray's voice carries that edge it gets when he's trying to solve a problem he can't see yet.
"I don't know. Somewhere old. Ruins, maybe. Stone foundations covered in ivy." I look around at their faces, all focused on me with varying degrees of concern and curiosity. "We were all there. Together."
You’re sure?" Bree asks, almost whispering.
"Yes." The word tastes strange in my mouth, too heavy to feel like hope. "We're going. All of us.
Before anyone can respond, the front door opens. Thane walks in like he owns the place, silver eyes scanning the kitchen and landing on me with uncomfortable precision.
"Interesting timing," he says, closing the door behind him. "We need to talk."
His gaze lingers on me.
"They’re still glowing."
I stiffen. So much for hiding it.
The Ether responds immediately, rising around Bree’s legs like it recognizes him.
"About what?" she asks, though something in her tone suggests she already knows.
"About leaving. Tonight, preferably. Tomorrow morning at the latest."
Jace drops the fork he's holding. "Excuse me?"
"The sanctuary," Thane continues, ignoring the interruption. "The place of your bloodline. It's not safe here anymore."
"Because of the Council?" Bree's voice is steadier than it has any right to be.
"Among others." Thane's jaw tightens slightly. "The longer we wait, the more dangerous this becomes. For all of you."
Footsteps echo from the hallway as Stellan appears in the doorway, reading the room with that predatory awareness of his.
Before anyone can ask more questions, Thane's phone rings. He checks the screen, frowns deeply, and steps back outside without a word.
The kitchen holds its breath. Through the glass door, we can see Thane pacing, his free hand gesturing sharply as he speaks in a voice too low to hear.
Then, clear as day:
“Fuck.”
Everyone goes still.
I’m halfway to the door when he steps back in, tension bleeding off him in waves. His face is drawn, his usual calm replaced with something colder. Sharper.
“That didn’t sound good,” Gray says carefully.
Thane doesn’t look at him. He looks at Bree.
“The spells around the sanctuary started unraveling the moment you awakened the Ether,” he says quietly. “Magical surveillance has already started pinging. The Council’s getting closer than I expected.”
He exhales, just once. “It’s not ready. Not the way I planned.”
A long silence.
“Then we don’t go?” Jace asks.
“We still go,” Thane says, his eyes fixed on Bree. “Because you should see it. Because it’s yours.” His voice softens—just barely—as he adds, “And after that, we’ll find somewhere safe.”
Stellan, who’s been quiet until now, steps into the doorway. “You’re not walking into a trap,” he says. “You’re walking into your inheritance.”
The words land heavy in the kitchen’s charged air.
I watch Bree process them—see the exact moment she stops thinking like someone who isn’t capable, and starts choosing who she wants to be.
The Ether curls higher around her waist, no longer restless but ready. Like it’s responding not to pressure, but to her decision.
“Then we go,” she says simply.
And just like that, everything changes.