Chapter 1
I used to think my struggle to breathe was normal.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt as if there was a blanket lying over my face, stunting my lungs from inhaling deeply. Exhales were easy—I never had to fight for those. But as I grew up, the blanket wrapped around me tighter and tighter. Forcing me to work harder for every breath. I assumed it was part of growing up.
Until I realized the blanket squeezed tighter each time my heart broke a little more.
I don’t remember much from when I was that young, but I know this constant worry about breathing began the moment I watched my father walk out the door.
Well, he’s not even my real father.
Ah, plot twist.
“We just got word that Mageia is on lockdown,” came a low, familiar voice. “No one gets in, no one gets out. And your sisteris… well, we can only agree on one thing. You need to wake up, Scarlet. We can’t fight this battle without you.”
Rhodes.
Rhodes Wylder was the most unexpected part of my time at Mageia War College. He crashed into my life, and I literally couldn’t get rid of him. At first, he was the arrogant team leader I wanted to throat-punch. But the more time I spent with him, the more I saw beyond his tough exterior.
It was a mask—just like mine.
Even though I tried to avoid the complication that was Rhodes, I couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. There was something in those beautiful gray-blue eyes that made me feel safe—a quiet promise of refuge. My resolve slipped away whenever he was near, and eventually, I lowered my guard and let him into my heart.
He was a beacon.
He wasmybeacon.
The imaginary blanket over my face loosened as I breathed in.
“Fallon… Fallon Fitzroy is her name. I swear I didn’t know she existed. In all my years at the Glade, I never heard of her. Either my father didn’t know, or he kept her hidden. Why? I have no damn idea. She puts on this tough front like she’s some mean, spiteful bitch who doesn’t care about anything. But I see right through that… maybe because I know that act too well myself. Beneath it, she has a true heart, full of passion and fierce courage. From what I’ve been able to gather, she’s been through hell. Just like you.”
Fallon Fitzroy.
My sister.
Mytwin.
I thought my life was complicated enough before. But now, everything I thought I knew was unraveling again. I’ve been stuck in this limbo for at least two weeks, if my rough count of Rhodes’s visits is right. Two weeks spent spiraling through my past, coming to the crushing realization that others will always control my life, no matter how hard I fight. I haven’t been able to move or even open my eyes. I’ve been drifting in and out of sleep, my nightmares bleeding into reality.
I should have known something was different that night in the woods when I locked eyes with the dark beast lurking between the trees. Instead of fear, I felt calm. Safe, even. And something else… recognition. Then there were the visions—images of me petting that black wolf when I touched the runes in the Eternal Tomb. But now I know those visions weren’t of me at all.
It was themarekem. I was channeling themarekemthrough Fallon.
My twin.
My damntwin.
The blanket tightened as I forced a shaky breath into my lungs.
Somebody owed me some damn answers.
Rhodes’s callused hands closed around mine, his thumb tracing slow, reassuring circles across my skin. He cleared his throat, voice low but steady.
“Shayde’s okay. He hasn’t spoken to any of us yet, but he’s restrained. Because the General won’t budge, they ordered Shayde to stay locked up until he talks. But he’s refusing to speak to anyone—except you.”
Shayde.
Shayde Wylder. The charming boy who’d approached me on initiation day. He welcomed me into his life with a warm smile anddown-to-earth energy. He made me laugh. He made me feel seen. His warm brown eyes and contagious grin were impossible to ignore. But then the Burn Trials happened… and he abandoned me.
