I can see it in his eyes:
He doesn’t know what he just did.
He doesn’t know how he did it.
And he is terrified of himself.
Terrified that the thing he fears becoming…
might already be here.
“What the fuck,” River breathes out, voice rasped and uneven, the disbelief in it almost thick enough to touch. He braces a hand against the tree trunk and pushes himself upright, wincing with every inch gained. Leaves cling to his hair, and his jaw is already swelling.
I rush toward Ryder on instinct, but he jerks away from me as if my presence is a threat—no, as ifhebelieves he is. His eyes are fixed on his own trembling hands, fingers splayed, as though he’s expecting some monster to peel itself out from beneath his skin.
The lilac rings—those cursed, warning rings—don’t touch his irises.
“Get away from me…” His voice cracks, raw and trembling. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Something inside me twists. Something protective. Something that refuses to let him fall apart alone.
“Ryder,” I murmur, soft but firm, stepping toward him in small, careful increments. I feel River tense beside me like I’m walking straight into a snake’s nest. “Whatever that was… I don’t think it was the serum.”
He shakes his head violently, stepping backwards until his heel catches on a root and he has to steady himself against a tree. His chest heaves like he can’t pull the air in fast enough.
“Asha, be careful,” River warns through clenched teeth, limping to my side, one hand pressed to his ribs. “You didn’t see—he threw me without touching me. I could’ve—” He cuts himself off with a groan.
“I saw,” I whisper, eyes still locked on Ryder. “And his eyes didn’t change.”
Not even a flicker. No lilac. No sign of the serum’s takeover.
I take another step. Ryder doesn’t flee this time, but his whole body coils tight.
“I think…” The words taste unreal even as I say them. “I think he channelled your energy, River.”
River’s breath hitches, confusion, denial and panic all warring behind his eyes.
Ziek lifts his head sharply, as if hearing something the rest of us can’t. “I hear the voices. We’re definitely in a weak spot.” He lowers his voice. “But how did he—”
“Twins,” I whisper—barely a breath, barely a sound. But the word hangs in the air like a crack of lightning, splitting the space between us wide open.
Ziek’s eyebrows shoot up. “Whoa. That explains the sibling rivalry.”
A crooked smirk tugs at his lips, too small to soften the tension that still hangs over us like a storm cloud.
Ryder looks like he’s been gut-punched by the truth. His throat bobs in a hard swallow. “So you’re telling me I used a Sun power?”
The last two words twist out of him like something foul—like the idea itself tastes wrong in his mouth.
“I think so,” I admit. A breathless laugh escapes me—not out of humour, but astonishment. “Whether you like it or not… You two are connected.”
My voice softens as the truth settles deeper into my bones.
The Hollow tears us open to expose what we refuse to see.
The forest is silent again—the unnerving, watchful kind of silence that feels like eyes peering out from every shadow.
My gaze pulls from Ryder to River, then back again. “Don’t you see? This is what the Hollow wanted all along.”
