20. Bree #2
Claire nods slowly. “I lost track of how long. But yes—from when I left you until I escaped, I was trapped.” Her hands clench.
“The creatures finally found me, showed me the way out. By the time I made it here, by the time I understood what was happening—” Her voice cracks.
“Auren told me about the sanctuary awakening. About you. And then…”
She stops, swallows hard.
“Then you vanished. Just like I had.”
The room goes quiet.
“I escaped the Void,” she whispers, “only to lose you to it.”
I stare at her—this woman who looks like me but isn’t me, who made choices I can’t comprehend, who loved me enough to leave and abandoned me in the process.
“You left me with lies,” I say finally.
“I left you with a chance,” Claire replies, and there’s steel in her voice now.
“If I’d stayed, he would have found you sooner.
Would have known what you were before you had any chance to understand it yourself.
” Her voice cracks. “I tried to keep him from you by staying away, by keeping him focused on me instead. I failed.”
The admission hangs between us—no justification, no defense. Just the raw truth of failure acknowledged.
My Ether stirs, silver mist curling around my fingers where they rest on Theo’s arms. The air ripples faintly between us, responding to the emotion I can’t quite contain.
The boys stay silent, but I feel them—solid presences at my back, ready to intervene if I need them but letting this be mine to navigate.
“When I was trapped,” Claire says quietly, “the fox and the snake came for me four months ago—finally showed me the way out.” She pauses, her expression distant. “By the time I arrived here, you were already gone.”
The words make something crack in my chest.
“But the raven,” I whisper. “Why didn’t you see the raven?”
Claire’s expression turns distant, almost prophetic. “I don’t know. Maybe it hadn’t found you yet. Or maybe…” She pauses, struggling with something. “Maybe it was waiting. For when you’d need it most.”
I can’t forgive her. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
But I can understand. Just a little.
“You should rest,” I say finally, my voice flat with exhaustion.
Claire nods slowly, like she knows this is the best she’s going to get. She stands, moving carefully, and turns toward the door.
At the threshold, she pauses and glances back at me.
“Be careful with the raven,” she says softly. “It always sees the end before anyone else does.”
Then she’s gone, disappearing through the doorway .
Auren lingers, his amber eyes somber. “I’ll show her to her room.” He pauses, then adds quietly, “You have until dawn. Maybe less.”
Everyone turns to look at him.
“I received word while you were talking,” he continues, his voice tight.
“Phil’s forces are moving through the underground networks.
They’re systematically checking known Feeder safehouses, interrogating anyone they find.
” His jaw clenches. “They’re getting closer.
It’s only a matter of time before they think to check here. ”
My stomach drops. “How long?”
“If we’re lucky? Sunrise.” Auren’s expression darkens. “If we’re not? They could be here in hours.”
Thane’s silver eyes flash. “Then we need to move. Now.”
“No.” Auren’s voice is firm. “You need rest. All of you. Bree especially.” He looks at me, and there’s genuine concern in his expression.
“You just escaped the Void. You’re running on fumes and adrenaline.
If you leave now, exhausted and unprepared, Phil will run you down before you make it a mile. ”
“So what do you suggest?” Stellan asks, his tone sharp.
“Get some rest while you can,” Auren says. “Recover what strength you have. I’ll keep watch, and I have wards that will alert us if anyone approaches.” He pauses. “Tomorrow, at first light, we run. I know places they haven’t found yet. People who can help.”
The room falls into tense silence, everyone weighing the risk.
“He’s right,” Theo says quietly, his voice rumbling through his chest where I’m still pressed against him. “We’re no good to anyone if we collapse from exhaustion. ”
Rhett looks like he wants to argue, but Gray’s wolf moves and presses against his leg, and something in the gesture seems to settle him.
“Fine,” Thane says finally. “But we leave at first light. No delays.”
Auren nods. “Agreed.” He glances at me one more time, then follows Claire’s path down the hallway.
The silence he leaves behind feels heavier than his presence.
I sit there in Theo’s lap, staring at the empty doorway, and think about birds that see the future and mothers who abandon their children to save them and the impossible weight of choices made with love and fear.
Theo’s arms are still around me, solid and warm. After a moment, he shifts slightly, adjusting his hold.
“You okay?” he murmurs against my hair.
I don’t answer right away. Don’t know how to put into words the tangle of emotions in my chest.
Maybe that’s why it found me first.
The raven, I mean.
Because unlike the fox and snake that guided her, the raven knows how stories end.
And mine isn’t over yet.