“We need to move her,” Gray says, breaking the quiet. “Get her somewhere we can protect.”
“Protect her from what?” Jace asks. “Us or him?”
“Both, maybe.” Wes shifts his weight, eyes on Riley’s face. “If Ethos can reach her through that bond—”
“Then we sever it,” Thane says flatly. “Cut the connection before he tries again.”
“You mean kill her.” Stellan’s voice is cold.
“I mean end what he started.”
“That’s the same thing.”
The air crackles with tension.
“She doesn’t deserve to die for this,” Rhett says, fire flickering under his palms. “Ethos manipulated her. Used her.”
“And she let him,” Thane counters. “She chose to switch places. Chose to wear Bree’s face. Chose to—”
“She was alone.” My voice cuts through. “Told her whole life she was nothing but a reflection. An echo. Then someone powerful tells her she could be more—that she could be chosen, loved, worthy—and you think that’s a real choice?”
Thane’s jaw tightens but he doesn’t look away.
“I’m not saying what she did was right,” I continue. “But I understand why she did it.”
“Understanding doesn’t make it safe,” Gray says quietly. “The tether’s still there. I can smell it on her. Ethos could come back through that bond anytime he wants.”
“Then we find a way to break it.”
“How?” Jace asks. “We don’t even know what we’re dealing with.”
“She could be a weapon he’s planted,” Thane adds. “Waiting to go off the moment we trust her.”
The words land heavy.
For a moment, no one speaks.
Then Theo’s voice cuts through, calm and certain. “This isn’t our choice to make.”
Everyone goes still.
“It’s hers,” he continues, eyes clear now. “It’s always been hers.”
The words hang in the air.
One by one, the guys turn to look at me.
Rhett’s the first to speak, his voice gentler than I’ve heard it in days. “What feels right, Bree?”
I stare down at Riley’s unconscious form. At the silver threads trying to flicker through the black. At my own face worn hollow by betrayal and hunger.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“You don’t have to know,” Wes says softly. “You just have to feel.”
“What do you want to do?” Gray asks.
My throat tightens. “I want to help her. But I don’t know if I can without losing myself.”
