Just like Ethos.
The horror of it settles like ice in my chest. They didn’t choose this. Don’t even realize it’s happening. But they’re feeding nonetheless, growing stronger while she drains away. It also explains why Thane didn’t end up like the rest of us being here.
“Her Ether is being used by Ethos for something,” I finish quietly. “The chains are just keeping her in place. The real drain…” I touch the vein again. “His reach is everywhere here.”
Wes makes a sound halfway between a growl and a sob. His voice is stronger now—the bond feeding him even as we speak. “Can we stop it?”
“Not here.” The words taste like ash. “As long as she’s in the Void, it’ll keep taking from her. The only way to stop it is to get her out.”
“Then what do we do?” Rhett demands, fire sparking in his palms—not struggling now, butthere. Real flame growing stronger by the minute.
Fed by her, just like everything else in this cursed place.
I’m quiet for a long moment.
Then Theo’s voice cuts through, flat and exhausted and done with my evasion.
“You said you’ve been here before.” He stares at me across Bree’s unconscious form. “So start talking.”
The demand hangs in the air.
I could deflect. Redirect. Change the subject like I’ve done for centuries.
But we’re out of time, and they deserve the truth.
Most of it, anyway.
“I was lost here once,” I say finally. “A long time ago. Before the Council. Before most of you were born.”
“How long?” Thane asks.
“Centuries.”
Silence. Heavy and disbelieving.
“How did you get out?” Jace’s tone is carefully neutral, but I hear the edge underneath.
“I made a deal.” I look at the veins again, remembering. “With Ethos.”
Silence. Sharp and horrified.
Thane’s silver eyes go cold. He already suspected, but hearing it confirmed is different.
“What did you give him?” Rhett asks quietly.
“That’s not part of this story.”
The silence that follows is tense, but I don’t elaborate. What I gave Ethos stays between me and the dark.
“He betrayed you,” Theo says softly. Not a question—a certainty drawn from whatever fragments of vision he’s catching.
I nod once. “The deal was simple: my freedom in exchange for…” I pause. “Something he wanted. But Ethos doesn’t honor bargains the way you’d expect. He sent me to the outer edges of the Void. The parts where nothing survives. Where even the darkness is afraid to go.”
“Why there?” Wes asks.
“To die, probably.” My mouth curves into something bitter. “Or to be forgotten. Either way, it was meant to be the end.”
“But it wasn’t,” Gray says.
