The vision still burns behind my eyes as I burst through the sanctuary doors, breathless and wild-eyed, scanning the darkness until my gaze locks onto them. Something passes across my face—relief, then recognition, then pure alarm.
Seth. From the morning walks. The one Jace mentioned—said he'd been around Bree. Too much.
I'm running before anyone can call out to me, feet pounding across the gravel path.
"Get away from her!" I shout, voice cracking with urgency.
Bree stumbles backward, startled by the raw panic in my voice. Seth raises his hands, stepping back with calm surprise, but I don't slow down.
I reach them in seconds, shoving myself between Bree and Seth, muscles tight with fury I don't remember choosing.
"Theo, what—"
"Don't," I say, not taking my eyes off Seth. "Something's wrong. I saw—" I swallow hard, chest heaving. "I had a vision. You're in danger."
But Seth looks... completely normal. Just confused. Just Seth.
"Were you about to—" My voice cracks again as I try to make sense of what I'm seeing versus what I saw. "What were you talking about?"
Seth steps back further, hands still visible, expression genuinely puzzled. "We were just talking about the garden. She was showing me around."
For a second, the vision overlaps what I'm seeing—Seth's face flickering between solid and broken, real and reflected. I blink hard, and he's just Seth again.
"In my vision, you were standing over her," I say, words tumbling out. "The Ether was wrong—black, like oil on water. Everything was ruined."
"Theo." Bree's voice cuts through my spiral, alarmed now. "You're scaring me. What's going on?"
I stare at Seth, trying to find any trace of the otherness I witnessed. Same face, same voice, but there's no threat here. He looks human in every way that matters.
But what if the vision was wrong? What if I'm losing control of my gift?
"I don't know," I admit, feeling completely unmoored. "I don't know what I saw."
Bree's expression shifts from alarm to concern—for me, not about some imaginary threat. She steps closer, her hand finding my arm, not pulling me closer—just anchoring me.
"Theo..." she says, and I can hear the conflict in her voice. "I want to talk about this," she says, softer now. "Just... let me clear my head first. Please?"
She's not stepping away from me. She's just... standing still. Choosing calm. I want to follow—but I know I'd just drag the panic with me.
I nod slowly, backing toward the sanctuary. As I reach the doors, I catch her turning back to Seth.
"Sorry," she says quietly. "I don't know what that was."
I know she'll come find me. She always does. It's the waiting that's hard.
The main hall feels too bright after the garden's shadows. The others are already there, drawn by whatever energy I put off when the vision hit, or maybe just by the sound of me crashing through the sanctuary like something was chasing me.
Rhett moves toward me immediately. "What happened? You look—"
"Where's Bree?" Gray interrupts, scanning the space behind me.
"Still outside," I say, the words tasting bitter.
"With who?" Jace's voice carries an edge I rarely hear.
"Seth."
Thane's gaze flicks between me and the direction I came from, but there's something off about him—an edge to his usual control, like he's holding himself together with sheer will. Something unreadable crosses his face. Without a word, he turns and slips back toward the garden entrance.
