“Then we make them want to.”
The snake hums against my wrist, and I feel that pull again—faint but there. The connection threading back through the mirror, back to the Void, back to her.
Back to Bree.
“We’re going to get her out,” he says, and it sounds like a promise. Like an oath.
I nod, something fierce and desperate rising in my chest.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “We are.”
Part Five: Trust The Process
Chapter 30
Thane
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
Stellan’s name flashes across the screen.
I almost ignore it—I’m in the middle of watching the imposter through the window, cataloging every tell, every wrong movement that proves she isn’t who she pretends to be. But something about the timing makes me answer.
“What.”
“You need to get to the chamber.” His voice is clipped. Sharp. Wrong. “Now.”
I go still. Stellan doesn’t sound like that unless something’s gone catastrophically wrong.
“What happened?”
“You’ll want to see this for yourself.” A pause, weighted. “And bring Zira.”
The line goes dead.
I stare at the phone for three seconds, then move.
Zira’s already waiting by the stairs when I find her, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
“He called you too,” I say.
“Five minutes ago.” Her gray eyes are sharp. Focused. “Told me to wait for you.”
That alone is enough to make my stomach drop. The three of us have been working together for a week—coordinating the Feeders coming through, managing the Oath complications, keeping the imposter distracted. Stellan doesn’t pull us both in like this unless something’s shifted.
We descend in silence.
The stairwell grows colder with every step, air turning metallic. The old wards hum against my skin—active, alert, responding to something they recognize.
“You feel that?” Zira mutters.
I nod. “Something’s changed.”
Wrong. Too strong. Too alive.
At the final turn, I catch Stellan’s voice echoing off stone—low, soothing, the tone he uses with frightened fledglings who don’t understand what they’ve become yet.
My instincts sharpen. Every nerve in my body goes taut.
