Chapter 32 Gray
Gray
The question hangs in the air— And the one upstairs?—and nobody has an answer.
Rhett’s fire has guttered out completely. His hands hang at his sides, empty of the rage that was holding him together moments ago. Jace stares at the floor like it might open up and swallow him. Wes looks like he’s about to be sick.
I’m the one who has to stay rational. Someone always has to.
“Introductions first,” I say, cutting through the heavy silence. My voice sounds steadier than I feel. “One problem at a time.”
Seth’s eyes move over each of us as I gesture to the others in turn.
“Gray. Rhett—fire elemental. Jace—air. Wes—incubus. Theo—seer.”
He nods slowly, exhaustion making every movement look like it costs him. When he gets to Wes, he lingers for a moment before moving on.
“You knew my mirror,” Seth says quietly.
But Rhett can’t let it rest. “He was working for Phil the entire time. Bree’s stalker. Council lap dog. Your mirror was feeding him information—about all of us. Everything we said, everything we did.”
“He betrayed all of us,” Jace adds, voice hard. “Pretended to be our friend while reporting back to that bastard.”
Seth staggers back like he’s been hit. “No. That’s not—I wouldn’t—”
“You didn’t,” I say. “But he did. And when Bree lost control, when her Ether exploded—your mirror was caught in it. He died.”
“She killed him,” Wes whispers. “Accidentally. But she’s been carrying that guilt ever since.”
Seth’s hands shake. He presses them against his thighs, trying to steady himself. “Does she know?” His voice cracks. “That it wasn’t really me?”
“Not yet,” Thane says coldly. “She thinks she killed you. The guilt has been eating at her.”
“But she also thinks you betrayed her,” I add, and watch that land. “In her mind, Seth—the person she trusted—turned on all of us. Worked for her abuser. Held her while Phil threatened her in front of the entire sanctuary.”
Seth’s breathing goes shallow. “She thinks I’m—” He can’t finish.
“A traitor,” Stellan supplies. “Yes.”
Seth’s face goes even paler, and something shifts in his expression—horror mixing with understanding.
“When I found her,” he says slowly, voice rough, “her eyes opened for just a second. She looked right at me and said—” He swallows hard. “‘No. It can’t be him. I killed him.’”
The words land like stones in still water.
“She thought you were your mirror,” I say quietly. “Coming back to finish what he started.”
“And I didn’t understand.” Seth’s hands shake. “I thought she was delirious, trapped in some nightmare. But she wasn’t seeing a stranger in the dark.” His voice cracks. “She was seeing the face of someone who betrayed her. Someone she thinks she murdered.”
Seth’s breathing turns ragged, and for a moment I think he’s going to lose it completely.
“And she bonded with you anyway,” Stellan says quietly.
The statement lands like a bomb.
Rhett’s fire flares under his skin. “What?”
“That’s not possible,” Wes breathes.
Jace goes completely still. Theo’s eyes unfocus for a second, then snap back with dawning understanding.
I just stare, trying to process what that means—for Bree, for all of us.
Seth looks up, confusion breaking through the grief. “I didn’t—I don’t even know what that means—”
“You said something locked into place when your fingers touched,” Thane says, voice flat. “That was a bond forming. Her Ether claimed you.”
“Even thinking he was the person who betrayed her,” Stellan adds. “Her magic still reached out. That’s not random. That’s recognition at a level deeper than conscious thought.”
“Bonds don’t work like that,” Wes says desperately. “They require trust—”
“They require truth,” Stellan corrects. “And her magic knew the truth even when she couldn’t see it.”
The weight of that crashes over all of us.
Seth’s voice breaks the silence, raw with guilt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t try to bring her. To get her out of that chamber. Away from him.”
“Away from who?” Thane’s voice goes deadly quiet.
“What chamber?” Rhett demands.
Seth looks between them, exhausted and confused by their intensity. “The black stone chamber. Silver fire. He was—feeding on her, I think. She was so weak—”
“His name.” Thane’s voice is barely controlled. “What’s his name?”
“Ethos.”
The name detonates.
Wes goes pale. Rhett’s fire flares hot enough to make the air shimmer. Jace curses under his breath, sharp and vicious.
But Thane—
Thane goes completely still. Then his hands start shaking.
“No.” The word comes out strangled. “No, he can’t—”
“You know him,” Seth says, not a question.
“I was there.” Thane’s voice cracks. “In the Void with her. The first time. He threw us back out like we were nothing.” His silver eyes are wild now, unfocused. “And now he has her. He’s had her this whole time and we didn’t—”
His hands curl into fists so tight I hear his knuckles crack.
“You should know,” Theo says quietly, and everyone turns. “After you and Bree came back from the Void that first time, I searched. Found fragments in old scrolls.” His voice is grim. “Ethos doesn’t just feed. He consumes. Breaks people down until there’s nothing left but what he wants them to be.”
Thane’s face drains of color. “And he has her.”
The room goes silent.
“How bad?” He looks at Seth, and there’s something desperate in Thane’s expression now. “How bad is she?”
Seth’s throat works. “Fading. She had new scars from the Void, and he was—” He stops, swallows hard. “She was terrified of me. But she bonded me anyway.”
“Which means the bond is our anchor,” Thane says, and his voice steadies with purpose. Cold calculation replacing panic. “The connection is real, stable. We can use it to navigate.”
I step forward before anyone can spiral. “Then we need a plan.”
“How?” Rhett demands. “How do we even get to her?”
“The bond,” Wes says suddenly. “Seth said he found her. That means he got close enough to—”
“Touch her,” Seth confirms.
The snake coiled around his wrist glows faintly silver, moving with its own life.
“What is that?” Wes breathes.
The door at the top of the stairs opens, and Zira appears, carrying a bundle of clothes. She descends quickly, eyes locking on Seth’s wrist.
“A familiar,” she says. She looks at Seth, then at the others. “Bree might not even know she has them. That one wouldn’t have gone with him unless it trusted him. Unless it knew he belonged with her.”
“So the bond is real,” Stellan says quietly.
Zira nods. “The familiar proves it. They can feel connections we can’t see.”
The jealousy that flickers across Rhett’s and Jace’s faces is immediate. They don’t say anything, but I see it—the territorial anger at someone else being bonded to her while they’re stuck here, helpless.
“That’s our anchor,” Thane says, silver eyes fixed on Seth’s wrist. “The bond connects you to her—which means it connects us to her.”
“You’re suggesting we use Seth to navigate,” Stellan says, and there’s warning in his voice.
“It’s the only way,” Thane says. “The Void has no landmarks, no direction. But the bond is a tether. If Seth can feel it strongly enough, we follow him.”
“Through the mirrors,” Theo adds quietly. “The Oath chamber responded to Bree weeks ago. The connection might still be open.”
“And if it’s not?” Stellan asks.
“Then we’re trapped too,” I say. “But at least we’ll be with her.”
“There’s one more thing we need to talk about,” Thane says. “The Oath.”
Stellan nods. “If we’re going into the Void—really going in, not just getting thrown back out—we need every advantage we can get.”
“The Oath binds you to your mirror self,” Thane continues. “Gives you access to power you wouldn’t have otherwise. In the Void, that could be the difference between surviving and being consumed.”
“We’ve been working with the Feeders who came to the sanctuary,” Stellan adds. “Helping them take the Oath. Bree’s Ether opened the chamber—it works now.”
Wes straightens. “How many have taken it?”
“One hundred and twelve so far,” Zira says, holding out the clothes to Seth. “All successful. And you look like you could use something that fits—borrowed these from Wes.”
Seth takes them gratefully. “Thank you.”
I look at her, then back at Thane. “You haven’t taken it yet.”
“No.” Thane’s silver eyes are steady. “We’ve been preparing others first. Making sure the chamber was stable.”
“But now it’s our turn,” Stellan says.
The weight of that settles over the room.
“So we take the Oath,” Jace says. “All of us. Then we go after her.”
“Together,” Rhett adds, and there’s no question in his voice. Just certainty.
Wes nods. Theo’s eyes are already distant, seeing something the rest of us can’t. When he focuses again, he just says, “Yes.”
“What about me?” Seth’s voice is rough. “My mirror’s gone. I don’t know what happens if I try.”
“Then we find out,” I say. “If you’re willing.”
Seth looks down at the snake coiled around his wrist, glowing faintly silver. “She bonded me even when she thought I was the one who betrayed her. Even when she was terrified.” He meets my eyes. “I’m willing.”
Thane’s expression shifts—something that might be approval. “Then we do this together. All of us. In an hour.”
“And after?” Jace asks.
“After the Oath, Seth leads us through,” Stellan says. “You opened the passage once already,” he adds, looking at Seth. “Through Bree’s mirror. You can do it again.”
Seth nods slowly. “I can try.”
“That’s our way in,” Thane confirms. “The bond connects you to her. You follow that connection back through the mirrors, and we follow you.”
“And if Riley wakes up?” Jace’s voice goes hard.
“We keep pretending,” Thane says coldly. “Let her think nothing’s changed. Let her believe we’re still fooled.”
“We have an hour to pack, gather supplies” I finish. “Then, we get Bree back.”
Zira looks around the room, something flickers in her eyes. “Good. It’s about time.”
I watch Seth pull on the borrowed shirt—Wes’s shirt—and something about that small act of normalcy steadies me. We’re still here. Still functioning. Still planning.
Still fighting for her.
Rhett turns away from the group, heading toward the stairs. Jace follows without a word. I know where they’re going—somewhere they can process this while gathering supplies without breaking in front of everyone else.
Theo sinks onto the floor, head in his hands.
That leaves me, Wes, Thane, Stellan, Zira, and Seth in the aftermath.
“We’ve got this.” Thane says, and it sounds like a promise. “Let’s move.”
I move toward the stairs, needing air, needing space to think. As I pass the largest mirror, I catch my reflection—and for just a second, I swear I see something else.
A flicker of silver mist where there should be none.
Wrong.
I stop, staring harder, but it’s gone. Just my own face looking back, tired and trying to hold it together.
But the feeling doesn’t fade. That crawling sensation at the base of my skull that says something’s watching.
“Gray?” Wes’s voice pulls me back.
“I’m fine.” I turn away from the mirror. “Just need to clear my head.”
“Want company?”
I look at him—at the fear barely contained beneath his calm exterior, at the way his hands shake when he thinks no one’s watching. He needs grounding as much as I need air.
“Yeah,” I say. “Come on.”
We head up the stairs together, leaving the others to finish planning. As we step into the night, and make our way back to the Sanctuary, I look at the place that’s become home.
At the window where Bree’s room is.
Where Riley sleeps in her bed, wears her face, lives her life.
And I make a silent promise.
We’re coming for you, Bree.
Just hold on a little longer.