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 strangerin 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.
