I stand at the edge of the opening, staring down into darkness that seems to pull at something deep in my chest. The stone steps spiral down beyond what I can see, worn smooth by ages of footsteps that came before. Before me. Before this moment that feels like it’s been waiting my whole life.
The Ether coils around my ankles, restless silver threads shot through with black that pulse in rhythm with my heartbeat. It wants to go down. I can feel it tugging at me like a tide, like gravity, like coming home.
“Bree.” Rhett’s voice carries a warning I’ve heard too many times lately. “Maybe we should—”
“No.” The word comes out sharper than I intend, but I don’t take it back. “This is mine. Whatever’s down there, it’s mine.”
I can feel them all watching me — Rhett’s protective tension, Gray’s quiet concern, Jace’s restless energy. Wes hovers close enough that I can sense his warmth, and Theo stands perfectly still like he’s afraid any movement might shatter the moment.
Thane and Stellan are silent, standing apart from the others, though something in their stillness feels different. Expectant. Like they know exactly what I’m about to find.
“I’ll go first,” I say, not looking back at them. “Alone.”
“Like hell,” Jace starts, but I cut him off.
“This isn’t a discussion.” My voice carries an authority I didn’t know I had in me, and it surprises me as much as it does them. “I can feel it calling to me. Not to us. To me.”
The Ether flares brighter, and the symbols carved into the scattered stones begin to pulse in response. The mirror shards catch the light and throw it back in patterns that would look beautiful if there weren’t angry butterflies in my stomach.
I take the first step down.
The moment my foot touches the ancient stone, the world changes.
Light blooms along the walls — not harsh, but warm and welcoming, like coming inside from the cold. The darkness retreats, revealing carved symbols that spiral down the walls in patterns that seem to move when I’m not looking directly at them.
Each step I take, more light appears. Not electric or fire, but something else. Something that recognizes me.
“Bree?” Gray’s voice echoes from above, careful and concerned.
“I’m okay,” I call back, though my voice sounds strange in this space. Richer somehow. Like the walls are designed to carry sound.
The stairs curve as they descend, and with each turn, I can see more of what waits below. My breath catches.
It’s not just a room. It’s a cathedral.
The staircase opens into a circular chamber so vast I can’t see the far walls in the gentle light that emanates from the stones themselves. The air is cooler here, carrying the faint scent of old stone and something that might be ozone, like the aftermath of lightning.
But what steals my breath isn’t the size — it’s the design.
The chamber descends in tiers around me, like an ancient amphitheater built in reverse. Stone platforms extend down inconcentric circles, each level carved with alcoves and niches, creating rings that spiral so far down toward shadows that light can’t penetrate. And mounted on every wall, are mirrors.
Hundreds of them.
Each one is different — some tall and narrow, others wide and ornate, all of them framed in materials I don’t recognize but that seem to shimmer with their own inner light. They line every tier, creating a constellation of reflecting surfaces that catches and multiplies the ambient glow.
I reach the bottom of the stairs and step onto the smooth floor.
The chamber responds.
Light races along the carved symbols, following pathways etched into the stone that connect every mirror to every other mirror in an intricate web of silver lines. The mirrors themselves begin to glow softly around their edges, not reflecting my image but something deeper. Something waiting.
“Oh,” I breathe.
I take a step toward the nearest ring of mirrors, and the Ether around me surges like a breaking wave.
The first mirror I approach shows my reflection — but different. The girl looking back at me has the same face, the same dark hair, the same green eyes. But she stands straighter. Looks more certain. There’s no fear in her expression, no hesitation.
She looks like someone who knows exactly who she is.
