19. Bree
Bree
Five years. Riley has had five years to become me.
“We knew time moved differently in the Void,” Thane says, his voice low. “But we didn’t realize…” He stops, jaw clenched. “We had no idea it had been this long out here.”
“Five years,” I whisper, looking at Auren. “You said five years?”
Auren nods carefully. “Time in the Void ran differently—what felt like months to you was half a decade here. For you and them, it felt like a year. Maybe less. But out here, the world kept moving.”
Gray’s massive white wolf form paces near the wall, silver eyes tracking every word. He hasn’t shifted back yet—and I don’t know why. His wolf’s presence is both comforting and unsettling, a reminder of how much has changed.
“The magical world has changed,” Auren continues. “Significantly, in that time.”
My stomach drops. “What kind of changes?”
“Feeders are being hunted,” he says simply. “The Council has spent almost five years systematically rounding them up.”
I go still. “Why?”
“Reports started coming in about six months after you all disappeared,” Auren says carefully. “Silver veins appearing on the Scarborne sanctuary grounds. Then they started spreading—through the stone, the surrounding forest, the entire property.”
“The Council determined it was raw Ether,” Auren continues, his voice hardening.
“Powerful, concentrated magic just waiting to be harvested. And they decided someone needed to mine it.” He pauses, then adds, “My sources have since confirmed the veins are coming from one of the mirrors in the Ashen Oath Chamber. One with large, curved horns.”
Silence falls over the room.
“We saw them in the Void,” Wes says quietly, and everyone turns to look at him. “The longer we were there, the more they grew. Thick silver threads running through everything, pulsing with light.” His jaw clenches. “They were everywhere by the end.”
“When we found you,” Rhett says slowly, his voice hollow, “the veins started at your feet. Where you touched the ground—that’s where they began.”
The words hit like a fist to the stomach.
My breath catches. My hands go numb where they’re gripping the coffee cup.
It can’t be. It can’t—
Seth’s face goes pale. “When I found you, Ethos had already started. The veins weren’t there yet, but the corruption was, the black within your Ether. He’d been feeding on you for a while by then.”
The room tilts. I grip the edge of the table, knuckles going white. The coffee cup trembles in my other hand.
It’s mine. All of it. He took it from me and it just—spread. Grew. Became something they could harvest.
Thane goes completely still. His silver eyes widen with something close to horror.
“The first time,” he says, voice barely audible. “When we accidentally crossed into the Void together. That’s when he—”
“Started feeding,” Stellan finishes grimly. “Before any of us knew what was happening. ”
“Months,” Rhett says, his voice shaking. “He’d been feeding on her for months before she was even trapped there.”
Thane’s hands curl into fists. “I was right there. I should have—” He stops, jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscle jump. “I should have known what he was doing to her.”
Gray’s wolf moves closer, a low whine escaping his throat. The sound carries weight—guilt, regret, things he can’t say in this form.
Their voices blur together, guilt and self-recrimination building, but I can barely hear them over the roaring in my ears. Five years. He fed on me and it spread through the sanctuary like roots, like infection, and they’ve been mining it. Mining me.
“Stop.” My voice cuts through their pity party. Everyone turns to look at me. “Knock it off. No one could have known what Ethos was doing.” I meet Thane’s eyes. “And besides, I brought us there. I did this to myself.”
My vision tunnels until all I can see is the truth laid bare: Riley’s been sitting on the Council for five years while enslaved Feeders mine my stolen power. Power that was ripped from me, thread by thread, while I was alone in the dark.
“The sanctuary Feeders,” I whisper. “They’re mining what he took from me.”
Auren’s expression shifts to horror. He didn’t know. Couldn’t have known where the veins truly originated.
“That’s why they kept spreading,” Stellan says, his voice tight. “The longer Bree was trapped, the more he drained from her, the more the veins grew.”
“And Riley just—” Jace can’t finish .
“Let them enslave people to harvest it,” Stellan completes, disgust clear in his tone.
“Let them keep Bree captive to extract it,” Wes says, his voice going cold in a way I’ve never heard before.
“Does that seem like a coincidence?” Theo asks quietly, but there’s steel beneath the calm.
The implication slams into me. Riley wasn’t just wearing my face—she was keeping me trapped. Feeding Ethos so he’d keep draining me so the veins would keep growing so the Council could keep harvesting.
I was livestock.
My Ether flares again, black threads pulsing through the silver like poison.
“And now?” My voice comes out flat. Dead. “What’s happening to them now?”
Auren’s expression darkens. “The Feeders are still being rounded up. Enslaved.” He pauses, jaw tight.
“The Council’s been quiet about it, but my contacts—friends—they keep disappearing, even from hiding.
The ones who’ve escaped, they all tell the same story.
Forced labor, mining the veins. Besides, the Feeders can touch them without being burned,” he says quietly. “Makes us useful.”
“That means,” my voice shakes, “the Feeders who came to me for help, Mairen, her family, they’re…”
Auren’s silence is answer enough.
“But why would—” I stop. “Riley. She’s allowing this.”
Auren nods slowly. “The woman claiming to be you has been… more than cooperative with the Council’s plans. She didn’t just au thorize the expansion—she has a seat on the Council now—the fifth spot, repurposed.”
My breath catches. “She what?”
“Took your place,” Auren says carefully, looking at Thane. “Appeared publicly, played the role perfectly. And in exchange for her cooperation, they gave her everything. Council seat—the one stolen from the Feeders—access, authority.”
Thane’s jaw tightens. “She’s exactly what they wanted. Compliant. Contained.”
“That’s bullshit,” Rhett says, magic flaring.
“Yes. But it’s effective bullshit.” Auren takes a sip of his coffee.
“Five years is a long time to build a system. The sanctuary isn’t a refuge anymore—it’s a labor camp.
And the Feeders who escaped…” He gestures to himself.
“We’re underground now. Hidden networks.
Safe houses. Moving people who can still run. ”
“It’s disgusting it has to be that way,” Wes says quietly.
“It is.” Auren’s expression darkens. “The Council actively hunts us. They have enforcers, trackers, entire squads dedicated to finding Feeders in hiding. Phil leads most of the operations.”
I feel sick. Five years of this. Five years of Riley wearing my face, using my name, turning everything I built into a prison.
“And the Oath chamber?” I force myself to ask.
Thane’s jaw clenches. “Locked down. A few of us discussed it this morning. The Council claimed it needed ‘proper oversight’ after Riley opened it. At first, access was restricted—Elementals, Seers, and Shifters with ‘adequate control’ only. Mentalists needed pre-approval.”
“And Feeders?” I already know the answer .
“Banned completely.” His voice is lethal. “Anyone who attempts to take the Oath faces binding. Magic stripped, feeding capabilities severed.” He pauses. “Slow starvation. Death.”
“But demand got so high,” Stellan adds, his tone bitter, “they tightened restrictions even further. Now they rarely let anyone through who doesn’t directly benefit the Council’s interests.”
“They turned your gift into a weapon,” Auren says quietly. “Made it exclusive. Elite. Everything you never wanted it to be.”
Wes shifts, his voice quiet but clear. “We all took the Oath. Before we went into the Void.”
Auren’s head snaps up. Then he laughs—actually laughs, sharp and genuine and slightly unhinged. “You’re joking.”
Rhett’s mouth curves slightly. “We’re not.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful.” Auren’s grin is sharp as broken glass. “The ones they’re most afraid of—the ones they locked the chamber to keep out—already completed it.” He looks at me, something wild in his eyes. “Do they know?”
“Not yet,” Jace says, his smirk growing. “But they will.”
My Ether flares—silver light edged with black, pulsing outward like a heartbeat. The temperature in the room drops.
“Five years,” I whisper. “She’s had five years to become me. To learn how to wear my face. To make them believe she’s the Source they wanted.”
I feel like I’m going to be sick. Riley took my place. Has been living as me.
“She switched with you after the Ashen Oath,” Thane says quietly, and there’s weight in his voice. “Stepped right into your life at the sanctuary. ”
“Some of the Feeders noticed something was off,” Stellan adds. “The way she moved, spoke. Little things.”
“Her Ether was inverted,” Thane continues. “Black threaded with silver instead of silver threaded with black. Her scars were gone. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t flinch.”
“We figured it out,” Stellan says, his voice tight.
“Later,” Auren cuts in gently but firmly. “First, we need to…”
“We need to stop her,” I say. “Before she—”
“Before she what?” Auren’s voice is gentle but firm. “Before she takes everything from you? Bree, she already has. She’s been on the Council for five years. She’s been living in your sanctuary. Sleeping in your bed.”
I want to argue. Want to rage. But he’s right.
“So what do we do?” Rhett asks, his voice rough.
“First, we need to figure out what Riley’s endgame is,” Thane says, stepping forward. “If she’s been consolidating power for five years, she’s not going to give it up easily. The longer she stays in Bree’s place—”
“We should overthrow the Council,” Rhett says, his voice hard and certain. “Take them down. All of them.”