Seth moves closer, crouching at the edge of our circle. “Then don’t do it alone.”
“Whatever you choose,” Stellan says, “we’ll stand with you.”
“Even if it’s dangerous?” I ask.
“Especially then,” Jace says, and there’s no humor in his voice now. Just certainty.
Thane’s silver eyes meet mine. “I still think it’s a risk. But it’s your risk to take. And we’ll face whatever comes after together.”
Something in my chest cracks open.
They’re not trying to protect me from the choice. They’re promising to stand in it with me.
“I want to try,” I say finally. “To heal her without merging. To make her whole while keeping us separate.”
“Is that possible?” Rhett asks.
“I don’t know.” I look down at my hands. “But the Ether wants to heal.”
I kneel beside Riley, placing one hand flat against the earth and the other on her chest—over her heart where the corrupted bond must anchor.
The moment my palm touches the ground, I feel it.
The sanctuary responding. The land itself humming with Ether that’s been spreading here for who knows how long, fed by my presence, my power, my choices.
It rises through me like a tide.
Silver light floods up through my arm, into my chest, spreading like warmth before flowing down through my other hand into Riley.
She gasps, back arching off the ground.
The black Ether wrapped around her begins to move—not retreating, but balancing. The corruption doesn’t disappear. It clarifies. Black and silver weaving together until they’re equal—half shadow, half light. Not corrupted anymore. Just… different.
Mirror-born.
Healed but not erased.
And yet, whole.
The bond to Ethos shivers, straining against the flood of pure Ether—then snaps.
The sound breaks the clearing open.
Riley’s eyes fly open, glowing pure silver for one impossible breath before fading back to green.
She stares up at me, gasping for air.
“You didn’t—” Her voice cracks. “We’re not—”
“No,” I say quietly, pulling my hands back. The Ether settles, sinking back into the earth. “You’re still you. I’m still me.”
Her eyes fill with tears. “Why?”
Riley sits up slowly, staring down at her own hands. The Ether threaded through her fingers is steady now—black and silver weaving together until they’re equal. Half shadow, half light. Not corrupted anymore. Just… different.
Mirror-born.
“I can’t feel him anymore,” she whispers. “The bond—it’s gone.”
