Of me.
Rhett smells of smoke and ash, heat still radiating from his skin in visible waves. His hands shake as he stares at the destruction, and I realize some of it came from him. His power, reacting to mine, adding to the chaos.
Wes looks like he might collapse. His face is pale, drained, and he won’t meet my eyes. Can’t meet my eyes, because he felt it all—my rage, my betrayal, my complete loss of control. The empathy that usually draws him to me must have been unbearable when I was like this.
Jace’s knives are scattered across the ground, forgotten. He’s staring at the place where Seth was standing, his usual cocky grin nowhere to be found. His face has gone gray, like he’s seen something that will haunt him forever.
Theo approaches first, but even he stops several feet away. Like I’m something dangerous. Something that might explode again if he gets too close.
And maybe I will.
“Bree?” His voice sounds far away, careful and controlled in a way that makes my chest ache.
I look up at them through the haze of exhaustion and pain. Their faces are different somehow. Changed. There’s something in their eyes that wasn’t there before—not just concern or worry, but wariness. The kind of wariness you reserve for wild animals or unstable explosives.
They’re afraid of me.
Really, truly afraid.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the ringing in my ears. “I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t.” Gray’s voice cuts through the air, rough with something I can’t identify. “Don’t apologize.”
But they’re not coming closer. Even Wes, who usually can’t help but reach for me when I’m hurting, stays frozen where he is. Like there’s an invisible barrier between us now, built from fear and betrayal and the memory of what I’m capable of.
Nobody moves to help me up. Nobody offers comfort or reassurance or any of the gentle touches I’ve come to depend on.
They just stand there, staring at me like they’ve never seen me before.
Like they’re not sure they want to.
Behind them, I catch sight of other faces in the crowd. Zira, her usual confidence replaced by something that looks like shock. Mairen, clutching her husband’s arm with white knuckles. Even Stellan and Thane hang back, and these are men who’ve seen centuries of violence and power.
But they’ve never seen anything like this.
Never seen someone lose control so completely that they destroy everything around them without even meaning to.
I close my eyes and try to stop shaking, but the tremors won’t fade. Neither will the taste of metal in my mouth, or the way the ground still hums with residual power beneath my knees, or the terrible certainty that I’ve crossed a line I can never uncross.
The Ether curls around my feet, subdued now but still threaded with those black veins. Still wrong. Still dangerous.
Still mine.
When I open my eyes again, the guys are still there. Still watching. Still afraid.
And somewhere in their faces, in the careful distance they’re maintaining, I see the truth that Phil wanted me to understand.
I am exactly what he said I am.
Their executioner.
The only question now is whether they’ll run before I hurt them too.
Chapter 24
Stellan
Silence.
