My eyes shot open, and for a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was.
The air reeked—blood and mildew thick in my lungs. I blinked into the dark, cold cell. A groan drifted from the other side of the wall—Finn. He was sobbing in his sleep again, low and broken.
Mother had given me the choice to stay in a room upstairs, but I couldn’t take Finn with me. They were keeping him—leverage to keep me compliant.
I’d walked straight into her trap. And gods help me, I couldn’t even bring myself to care.
Ibelongedhere.
A rusted grate between our cells let us reach each other. We’d fallen asleep holding hands through it, and I could still feel how brittle he was now—skin stretched thin, strength barely there.
My thoughts drifted to the Shades. Would they be looking for me? Or hunting me—just to drag me back and lock me up again?
It wasn’t like I didn’t deserve it. I had betrayed them. They probably hated me now.
Good. They should hate me. I hope they do.
Down here in the darkness, I didn’t have to play pretend anymore. I didn’t have to fake softness or strength or hope.
I wasn’t noble. I wasn’t powerful. I was worthless. Just blood and shadow and bad decisions. Just another lost thing waiting to be swallowed whole.
And still—
Leo’s damn smile lingered. Slade’s silent loyalty. Phoenix, always trying tounderstandme.
I hated that they tried.
I hated that part of me still missed them.
At least here, no one would make that mistake again.
No one would look at me like I was someone worth saving.
Because I’m not.
I never was.
I was a weapon. And if they wanted to use me until I broke, I’d let them—if it meant Finn might live.
He was worth more than me. They all were.
The only way out was through the bars in front of me. Earlier, someone had shoved a tin plate through with stale bread and chewy stew. I ate it fast. It was disgusting, slimy and full of gristle. But it was food.
Then—I heard the door.
It opened at the far end of the corridor. Someone was humming as they approached, a tune I remembered.
Each step was deliberate, echoing against stone. My breath hitched. My shadows reacted before I could. Coiling around me. Bristling.
A presence. Heavy. Familiar. Foul.
I backed away from the bars. The corridor was thick with shadows—I pulled them up, wrapping them into a dense veil across the cell front, sealing myself behind a barrier of living black.
Then he stepped into view.
Tall. Cloaked. Draped in black robes that clung to him like smoke. He radiated violence—leashed, barely contained.
I couldn’t see his face. Just the shape of him. Like Death incarnate.
