Chapter 1
Bree
The white light doesn't fade—it shatters.
One moment I'm suspended in starlight, the ancient voice still echoing through my bones. The next, I'm stumbling backward as reality crashes in like a tidal wave. Sound rushes back in a disorienting flood: my ragged breathing, the creak of old floorboards, Theo's sharp intake of breath somewhere to my left.
My knees buckle.
Strong hands catch me before I hit the floor—Rhett's warmth at my right shoulder, Gray's steady grip on my left arm. My body should flinch like it always does when I'm touched without warning... but it doesn't. Not this time. Maybe I'm in shock. Or maybe something in me is finally too tired to resist.
"Easy," Rhett murmurs, his voice low and careful. "We've got you."
They guide me backward until the edge of the bed meets my legs, and I sink down gratefully, my whole body trembling with the aftershocks of whatever just happened.
I try to focus on the feel of his hand on my shoulder, Gray's fingers still wrapped around my forearm like he's afraid I might disappear. But everything feels strange, like I'm seeing the world through someone else's eyes. The mist that usually follows me everywhere has retreated, curling close to my skin like it's hiding.
Rhett’s voice is low and careful. “Are you okay?”
Jace follows a second later, his worry barely masked by sarcasm. “What the hell was that?”
I open my mouth to say I’m fine—the automatic response I’ve perfected over years of deflection. But the words stick in my throat, caught between truth and habit.
“I…” I swallow hard, my hands shaking as I press them flat against my thighs. “I’m not fine.”
The admission hangs in the air between us, heavier than any lie would have been. Wes moves closer, his dark eyes scanning my face with that quiet intensity that sees too much. Theo hovers near the foot of the bed, his analytical mind already working through what just happened.
"The crown," I whisper, staring down at my palms like they should still be holding something precious. The shimmer has faded now, but I can still feel the warmth, like a brand pressed into memory. The heat lingers. Like it left something inside me instead.
"You touched the crown," Theo says quietly, his voice carrying careful precision. "Whatever it was—it responded to you. And then everything collapsed."
"We all saw it," Gray adds, his sharp gaze never leaving my face.
I look toward where the impossible room had opened, where ancient stones had pulsed with their own inner light. But there's nothing therenow. Just the same attic walls, the same dusty air. Even the crystalline daisies that had been growing through the floor are gone, leaving no trace they ever existed.
"The room," I say, confusion threading through my voice. "The space beyond the door—it was huge. Ancient. Where did it go?"
"Same place as the crown, I'm guessing," Jace mutters, running a hand through his hair. "Which is exactly nowhere we can follow."
Wes moves to the door, his footsteps silent on the old floorboards. He pulls it open cautiously, and I hold my breath, half-expecting that silver light to spill out again. Instead, there's just darkness. The faint outline of storage boxes and a broken light bulb hanging from a frayed cord.
"It's just a closet now," he says, his quiet voice carrying an edge of something I can't identify. "No crown. No glow." He runs his fingers along the doorframe, searching. "The symbol's gone too."
They all exchange looks—the kind of silent communication they've perfected over years of friendship. I should feel relieved that the mysterious door has returned to normal, that whatever magic pulled us here has faded back to ordinary wood and dust.
Instead, I feel empty. Like something vital has been carved out of my chest.
"Did anyone else hear..." I start, then stop. My voice feels too small. "Never mind."
"Hear what?" Rhett's voice is gentle but insistent.
"A voice." I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold. "When I touched the crown. It called me..." I swallow hard. "It called me queen."
Silence. Five sets of eyes watching me with expressions I can't quite read.
"We didn't hear anything," Theo says carefully. "Just the surge of power. The light."
Of course they didn’t. Because whatever spoke to me wasn’t meant for them.
