“You deserved flowers,” I whisper. “Real ones. Ones that someone grew for you because they loved you.”
The daisy glows brighter for just a moment. Like the Ether remembers her too.
I step back. Rhett is beside me. His hand finds mine, fingers lacing together.
“You ready?”
No. Not even close.
“Yes.”
He lifts his other hand. Flame curls in his palm—warm, golden, steady. He’s done this seventeen times this week. Practiced until he could control the heat, the spread, the way the fire catches and climbs.
But his hand is shaking.
I squeeze his fingers once. Let go.
He touches the pyre.
The fire catches immediately.
It races along the wooden beams, hungry and bright, climbing toward Riley’s body. The heat pushes against my face, dries the tears I didn’t realize were falling.
I watch her burn.
And then—
“Bree.” Thane’s voice is low. Strange. “Look.”
I don’t want to look away from the flames. From Riley. From the last physical proof that she existed.
But something in his tone makes me turn.
The Feeders are bowing. A ripple that starts at the front and spreads backward, hundreds of heads lowering in unison.
I don’t understand. My brain won’t process it.
“What are they—”
“They’re not bowing to Riley.” Stellan’s hand tightens on mine. “They’re bowing to you.”
“They believe in what you’re building,” Thane says quietly.
The sob tears out of me before I can stop it.
These people—the people Riley enslaved, manipulated, broke—are bowing to me. Not because I demanded it. Not because I’m the Source, or the queen, or whatever the hell I’m supposed to be.
Because I showed up.
Because I asked for grace instead of vengeance.
Because I treated their dead with dignity, and now they’re returning the favor.
My knees buckle.
Seth’s hand slides into mine before I can fall. Gray presses his forehead to my shoulder. Wes wraps an arm around my waist, solid and grounding. Theo anchors my other side. Rhett steps behind me, chest warm against my back. Thane’s palm settles between my shoulder blades. Stellan’s fingers cover mine where they grip Seth’s hand.
They form a circle around me.
