The girl was her.
The revelation wound around her heart like iron chains, each link tightening until she couldn’t breathe. Denial warred withacceptance, their conflict a tangled knot as she replayed the visions.
The ballroom filled with Sidhe of the air, laughter spilling into every corner, a lightness she could almost feel...
That place had been herhome.
And the boy, the one with the glint of mischief in his eyes, inviting her to spin with him across the floor—that boy was herbrother.
A family she never knew. Snatched from her grasp before she’d even known to reach for them.
Every moment she had spent feeling like an outcast, imagining herself as a lone star born from the Mother's whim was alie.
She was Sidhe. Not some forsaken fragment of stardust. She had roots; she had blood ties. Belonged to a family violently ripped apart. The ache that had shadowed her for as long as she could remember wasn’t the sting of abandonment—it was grief, a love torn from her and left to bleed.
And now, watching her small, lifeless form being carried away, a howl built in her chest. Every shiver ofDraoth, every whisper that had seemed to call her name—it all slotted into place.
TheDraoththat thrummed in her veins, the innate understanding she had of its cadences, its textures, itssmells—it wasn’t an oddity.
It was her birthright.
The Binding Sigil. Theparasite.
They weren’t just chains—they were leeches, digging in deep, siphoning her strength, her will, her very sense of self.
It wasn’t just about control—it was concealment.
Slowly, the memory faded, dissolving like smoke.Hermemory, a voice murmured in her mind, even as she doubled over, her body racked with silent, shuddering sobs.
“There is one more,” the collective whispered, their voices brushing against her frayed edges like a dark caress.
The shadows shifted, reshaping themselves, and then he appeared—Thane.
Younger, just fifteen, exactly as he’d been the night he’d tried to kill her.
But this wasn’t a memory.
He stood there, solid and clear, as if he’d never left.
“Elara.” His lips curved into a bittersweet smile. “I always believed you’d come. That you’d find the way.”
Her chest cracked open, an ache so deep it felt like she was bleeding from within. “Thane,” she choked out, “how do I get you out of here?”
His gaze softened, sorrow etched into every line of his face. “You can’t. I’ve been spirit-bound for too long.”
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, the words brittle.
He shook his head. “This burden isn’t yours to carry.”
She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she could hold the pieces of her breaking heart together. “Why are you here? Why haven’t you crossed over?”
The warmth faded from his face, shadows pooling in his gaze. “I can’t. None of us can. We’re stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“Aine—she holds the Void in her grip, keeps Rhiannon in her thrall. Without Rhiannon, none of us can pass. We’re trapped here.”
Trapped.
