Stellan doesn’t back down. “It means you’re about to have your world shattered, and I need you functional when it happens. Not burning the sanctuary down because you can’t handle the truth.”
Silence. Heavy and suffocating.
Then Stellan turns and heads down the stairs.
Every step echoes like we’re walking into our own grave.
Theo keeps pressing his fingers to his temple. I want to crack a joke. Something about midnight incubus summons or secret cult meetings. But the words die in my throat because Stellan’s walking like he’s heading into a war zone, and Thane’s already waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
And so is someone else.
The figure stands in the center of the chamber, gaunt, hollow-eyed, clothes torn by hell itself.
Dark hair. Pale skin. A snake coiled around his wrist—glowing the way her magic used to.
When I see his eyes, my breath stops.
“You’re dead,” Rhett says, voice flat.
Seth lifts his head slowly, like even that small movement costs him. “That wasn’t me.”
The room fractures—Rhett stepping forward, Gray catching his arm, Wes making a sound halfway between gasp and sob. My own heart pounds so hard it hurts.
“What the hell does that mean?” I manage.
Thane steps forward, voice measured and cold. “The Seth who died at the sanctuary was his mirror self.” His silver eyes never leave Seth’s face. “This is the real Seth. He’s been trapped in the Void.”
Stellan adds quietly, “I saw him come through the mirror myself.”
Seth’s gaze drifts over us, tired and haunted. His eyes linger on Thane, then Stellan—recognition there. When he looks at the rest of us, there’s only confusion.
“I don’t know any of you.”
The words land like stones.
“That’s not possible,” Rhett says, voice cracking. “You lived at the sanctuary. You—”
“That wasn’t me,” Seth says quietly. “I’ve been trapped since I was eighteen.” He swallows hard. “I don’t even know how long that’s been. Time doesn’t work there.”
Silence. Heavy and suffocating.
Then Seth’s expression shifts—something urgent breaking through the exhaustion.
“But I found someone there. In the Void, just before I fell through the mirror.” His voice drops. “A woman. Dark hair, pale green eyes.” He pauses, and when he speaks again, his words are deliberate. “And scars. So many scars.”
The air leaves my lungs.
That’s when Thane cuts through the silence with words that shatter everything.
“And that’s why we need to talk about who’s sleeping in Bree’s bed.”
Rage hits me like a fist to the chest.
“Fuck you,” I snap.
“Watch your mouth,” Rhett growls.
“You saw her too.” My hands curl into fists. “That morning. In the chamber, we found her standing right there. Alive. Safe. Finally not afraid of her own shadow.”
