35. Bree
Bree
The silence stretches.
Riley lies unconscious between us, her breathing shallow. The daisies’ light pulses in time with her heartbeat—faint, struggling.
“We need to move her,” Gray says, breaking the quiet. “Get her somewhere we can protect.”
“Protect her from what?” Jace asks. “Us or him?”
“Both, maybe.” Wes shifts his weight, eyes on Riley’s face. “If Ethos can reach her through that bond—”
“Then we sever it,” Thane says flatly. “Cut the connection before he tries again.”
“You mean kill her.” Stellan’s voice is cold.
“I mean end what he started.”
“That’s the same thing.”
The air crackles with tension.
“She doesn’t deserve to die for this,” Rhett says, fire flickering under his palms. “Ethos manipulated her. Used her.”
“And she let him,” Thane counters. “She chose to switch places. Chose to wear Bree’s face. Chose to—”
“She was alone.” My voice cuts through. “Told her whole life she was nothing but a reflection. An echo. Then someone powerful tells her she could be more—that she could be chosen, loved, worthy—and you think that’s a real choice?”
Thane’s jaw tightens but he doesn’t look away.
“I’m not saying what she did was right,” I continue. “But I understand why she did it. ”
“Understanding doesn’t make it safe,” Gray says quietly. “The tether’s still there. I can smell it on her. Ethos could come back through that bond anytime he wants.”
“Then we find a way to break it.”
“How?” Jace asks. “We don’t even know what we’re dealing with.”
“She could be a weapon he’s planted,” Thane adds. “Waiting to go off the moment we trust her.”
The words land heavy.
For a moment, no one speaks.
Then Theo’s voice cuts through, calm and certain. “This isn’t our choice to make.”
Everyone goes still.
“It’s hers,” he continues, eyes clear now. “It’s always been hers.”
The words hang in the air.
One by one, the guys turn to look at me.
Rhett’s the first to speak, his voice gentler than I’ve heard it in days. “What feels right, Bree?”
I stare down at Riley’s unconscious form. At the silver threads trying to flicker through the black. At my own face worn hollow by betrayal and hunger.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to know,” Wes says softly. “You just have to feel.”
“What do you want to do?” Gray asks.
My throat tightens. “I want to help her. But I don’t know if I can without losing myself.”
Seth moves closer, crouching at the edge of our circle. “Then don’t do it alone.”
“Whatever you choose,” Stellan says, “we’ll stand with you. ”
“Even if it’s dangerous?” I ask.
“Especially then,” Jace says, and there’s no humor in his voice now. Just certainty.
Thane’s silver eyes meet mine. “I still think it’s a risk. But it’s your risk to take. And we’ll face whatever comes after together.”
Something in my chest cracks open.
They’re not trying to protect me from the choice. They’re promising to stand in it with me.
“I want to try,” I say finally. “To heal her without merging. To make her whole while keeping us separate.”
“Is that possible?” Rhett asks.
“I don’t know.” I look down at my hands. “But the Ether wants to heal.”
I kneel beside Riley, placing one hand flat against the earth and the other on her chest—over her heart where the corrupted bond must anchor.
The moment my palm touches the ground, I feel it.
The sanctuary responding. The land itself humming with Ether that’s been spreading here for who knows how long, fed by my presence, my power, my choices.
It rises through me like a tide.
Silver light floods up through my arm, into my chest, spreading like warmth before flowing down through my other hand into Riley.
She gasps, back arching off the ground.
The black Ether wrapped around her begins to move—not retreating, but balancing. The corruption doesn’t disappear. It clarifies. Black and silver weaving together until they’re equal—half shadow, half light. Not corrupted anymore. Just… different .
Mirror-born.
Healed but not erased.
And yet, whole.
The bond to Ethos shivers, straining against the flood of pure Ether—then snaps.
The sound breaks the clearing open.
Riley’s eyes fly open, glowing pure silver for one impossible breath before fading back to green.
She stares up at me, gasping for air.
“You didn’t—” Her voice cracks. “We’re not—”
“No,” I say quietly, pulling my hands back. The Ether settles, sinking back into the earth. “You’re still you. I’m still me.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “Why?”
Riley sits up slowly, staring down at her own hands. The Ether threaded through her fingers is steady now—black and silver weaving together until they’re equal. Half shadow, half light. Not corrupted anymore. Just… different.
Mirror-born.
“I can’t feel him anymore,” she whispers. “The bond—it’s gone.”
“Good,” Thane says flatly.
Riley’s eyes find his, then move to each of the others. Lingering on their faces like she’s seeing them for the first time. “I’m sorry. For all of it. For what I did, what I let happen, what I—”
“Later,” Gray cuts in, not unkindly. “Right now we need to move.”
Riley looks back at me, tears threatening to spill. “Why did you save me? After everything?”
I pull my hands back, the Ether settling. “Because you don’t have to be whole to be worthy of being seen. ”
The words hang in the air.
I look up and find Theo watching me, his eyes soft with recognition. He smiles—small and certain.
I smile back.
He nods, just once. Understanding passing between us without needing words.
Riley’s breath catches, something breaking open in her expression. She nods too, slower, like she’s testing the weight of those words and finding them true.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
For a moment, the clearing holds its breath. The daisies pulse once, bright and steady, like the land itself is acknowledging what just happened.
“He’s right,” Stellan adds, already scanning the forest. “That bond breaking made noise. Ethos felt it. And if he felt it—”
“Others did too,” Thane finishes grimly.
The air shifts. Colder.
“The sanctuary,” I say, pushing to my feet. My legs shake but hold. “We need to get to the sanctuary.”
Riley struggles to stand, swaying. Her knees give out.
I catch her before she falls, sliding my arm around her waist. She stiffens, then leans into me.
“You’re with us now,” I say quietly, meeting her eyes. “We’ve got you.”
Her breath hitches. For a moment she just stares at me—at the face that’s not quite hers anymore, at the power she tried to steal and the mercy she doesn’t deserve.
Then she nods .
Stellan steps forward, his fingers going to his lips. The whistle that cuts through the forest is sharp and clear—three short bursts, then one long.
A signal.
In the distance, I hear movement. Voices. The sound of over a hundred people stirring to life in the darkness.
The Feeders we came with now headed our way.
“They’ll follow,” Stellan says, lowering his hand. “We move now, we move together.”
Rhett’s flames flare brighter, lighting our path. Gray shifts half-way, senses sharpening. Jace’s knives catch the silver light. Wes moves to my other side, steady and quiet. Theo’s already three steps ahead, eyes distant with vision. Seth takes up the rear, silent as always.
Thane looks at me once—silver eyes unreadable—then turns toward the sanctuary.
“Let’s go.”
We move as one.
Riley stumbles but I keep her upright, and Wes shifts closer to help bear her weight. The forest parts around us, the daisies lighting our way like breadcrumbs leading home.
Behind us, the caravan follows.
And ahead—somewhere in the dark—the sanctuary waits.