But the visions won’t clarify. They show meafter—the consequences, the shattered pieces—but neverhoworwhy.
“On three,” Thane says, his silver eyes scanning each of us in turn. “Everyone approaches their mirror together. Place your palm to the glass. Don’t look away.”
Stellan adds, “The mirror will show you your other self. Don’t flinch. Don’t pull back. The Oath requires recognition.”
My heart pounds as I step toward the mirror directly in front of me. The glass shimmers, and for a moment, I see myself reflected—but not quite right. The eyes are the same deep brown, but there’ssomething else in them. Certainty. Clarity. Like this version of me has never doubted a single vision.
Around me, the others move into position. Rhett’s reflection flickers with heat, fire runes mirrored back at him. Jace’s mirror swirls with invisible currents, air magic coiling like living wings. Gray’s shows a shimmer of silver fur beneath his skin—wolf, waiting to emerge.
Wes’s reflection makes him look… more. Like every perfect angle has been refined, every imperfection erased. His mirror-self is beautiful in a way that feels dangerous.
And Thane and Stellan—their reflections are darker, sharper, like they’ve always known exactly who they are and never apologized for it.
“Three,” Thane says.
My hand lifts toward the glass.
“Two.”
The chamber’s hum grows louder, vibrating through my chest.
“One.”
We press our palms to the mirrors.
The glass warms beneath my touch—thenglows. Heat floods up my arm, through my chest, into my skull. I gasp, vision whiting out as power slams into me like a tidal wave.
And suddenly, I’m not alone in my head.
Voices overlap—Rhett’s fury, Jace’s joy, Gray’s vow, Wes’s hunger, Thane’s restraint—all of them bleeding together until I can’t tell where one ends and another begins. Their magic threads through mine, knotting together into something vast and terrifying andwhole.
The mirrors flash, each projecting a sigil into the air above us. The symbols spin, merging into a single glyph that hangs suspended in the center of the chamber.
The Ashen Oath.
Light explodes through me—ecstatic, agonizing, endless. My Seer magicburns, carving new pathways through my mind until I feel like I’m on fire. My eyes blaze silver, tears of light streaming down my face.
I seeeverything.
Bree’s crown flaring white-gold. The Council’s banners burning. Phil smiling in the shadows. And beneath it all—Ethos’s eyes opening in the dark.
The visions fracture, splitting into a thousand futures that all lead to the same place:ruin.
Then, just as suddenly, it stops.
I stumble backward, gasping, my hand falling away from the mirror. Around me, the others stagger too—Rhett catching himself against the wall, Jace doubling over with a sharp laugh, Gray steady but shaken.
Wes looks dazed, like he’s not sure what just happened. Thane and Stellan are the only ones still standing straight, but even they look rattled.
The mirrors are no longer reflections. They’rewindows—showing other places, other versions of ourselves, other possibilities.
“Holy shit,” Jace breathes.
“That was…” Wes trails off, shaking his head.
Rhett just stares at his hands, where faint fire runes now glow beneath his skin. “Did it work?”
“It worked,” Stellan says, his voice tight. “You’re bonded to your mirror selves now. Stronger than you were before.”
