Chapter 13
Thorne
They left me behind. That’s where it started. I’m alone.
So alone.
So much pain.
And they left me.
Not with the mirrors. Not with the screams.
With the silence.
They didn’t come. They abandoned me.
They didn’t fight. They didn’t break me out.
Where are they?
Where are they?
I used to believe in them.
I used to have a sister too. Didn’t I?
A song. There was a song. I think she sang it… but maybe it was someone else.
What was the song?
The moon cries out.
No, that’s not right.
What is it?
Why can’t I remember?
Phoenix. He always knew the right thing to say.
He was my friend.
...Friend?
Do I have friends?
I did. I think.
Who were they?
I see a tall, dark figure.
A mountain of quiet. Steel. Stillness.
Slade.
He never let anyone fall alone.
Except me.
He let me fall.
And then he walked away.
Leo, who once made the dark feel like a blanket.
Now he wraps it around her.
He called me brother.
Where is my brother now?
With her.
And her.
Gods, her.
I would’ve followed her into fire.
I did, didn’t I?
And how did she repay me?
But when the doors closed behind me— no one came.
She’s in all the mirrors.
She always stands with them.
She smiles at them the way she used to smile at me.
Her shadows wrap around their hands like vines.
Her voice calls them by name.
She doesn’t speak to me anymore.
The mirrors never lied.
They didn’t have to.
They just reminded me of my mission.
Over and over and over again.
Phoenix telling the others, “He made his choice.”
Slade shaking his head, “He knew the risks.”
Leo saying, “We can’t go back for him. Not now.”
And Elira—
Elira, standing free.
Hair loose. Shadows calm. Her hand in Leo’s.
She turned to the others and smiled.
“We don’t need him anymore.”
Her voice calls them by name.
She doesn’t speak to me anymore.
But once—she did.
She said she’d come back.
But that was a lie, too.
I begged the mirror to stop.
I screamed until my voice gave out.
It didn’t stop.
It never stops.
I started scratching tally marks into the walls.
Then into my skin.
One for each day.
Then for each memory I lost.
I can’t remember Slade’s laugh anymore.
I think that’s good.
It means it’s working.
The mantra helps.
It fills the space they left behind.
Order before mercy. Truth before feeling. Duty before desire.
She is the key. She is the threat. She must be returned.
I say it when my hands shake.
I say it when her voice starts to sound like forgiveness.
I say it to drown the silence.
When the door opens now, I don’t flinch.
Not because I’m strong.
Because I don’t care.
The only sound that matters is his boots on the floor.
Vasquez.
He stands beside me, a ghost in human skin.
“She abandoned you,” he says quietly, like he’s soothing a wounded animal.
I nod.
“She ran. And the others let her.”
I nod again.
“They didn’t come back, Thorne. They made their choice.”
And I say it. Out loud. Because I believe it now:
“They left me behind.”
He watches me a moment longer. Then:
“What is she?”
My voice is flat. Empty.
“A traitor.”
“To what?”
“To the crown.”
“And the others?”
I hesitate.
Leo’s face flickers in the glass—grinning, cruel, hand wrapped around Elira’s wrist.
“Corrupted.”
“And your mission?”
“Kill the Shades. Deliver her back. For justice.”
Vasquez steps in front of me, blocking the mirror.
“And if she begs?”
I feel her phantom hand in mine. I hear her voice, soft with guilt—
“Thorne… please. You know me.”
I close my eyes.
“I’ll remind her who she is.”
He nods once and turns.
“Ashton,” he calls. “He’s ready.”
The king doesn’t enter. Just laughs from the shadows.
“Good,” he says. “Let’s see how loyal broken men can be.”
I stand.
And I go.
Not for them.
Not for her.
For justice.
For what they took from me.