I laughed again—sharp and bitter. “Maybe not. Maybe I’ll die here. Maybe I’ll take you with me.”
“You don’t want that,” Leo said gently, stepping closer. His golden eyes flicked to Finn, then back to me.
“I don’t want to be caged like a rat,” I spat. “Locked in one of your little torture cells, drugged and chained. Death would be preferable to that.”
The men exchanged a glance. Unspoken words passed between them—some silent calculation. Phoenix stepped forward, eyes steady on mine. “We can keep you safe. Maybe even help your friend.”
“You mean kill him,” I snapped.
“No,” Leo said firmly. “I promise.”
“A promise from a Shade?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “Now I’ve seen everything.”
Phoenix didn’t flinch. “What’s your name?”
That threw me. My breath caught. “…Why?”
“I just want to know what to call you,” he said quietly. Another step. Closer.
My shadows whipped out in warning, black tendrils lashing at the air. But my limbs were trembling now. The strain was catching up with me. My hold on the dark was slipping.
“Elira,” I rasped.
Phoenix smiled. It was small, cautious. “Elira. That’s a nice name.”
I tried to snort, but it came out as a breathless gasp. My arms shook. My knees buckled. I was unravelling, thread by thread.
“You can let go, Elira,” Phoenix said, his voice strangely soft. “We won’t hurt you.”
I wanted to scream at him, to curse him, to fight. But I didn’t. Because, deep down, I wasn’t afraid. And that terrified me more than anything.
Because I knew I was caught. Surrounded. Out of time.
Now it came down to this—leave with dignity, or be dragged.
The shadows flickered once more—then snapped out of existence.
And with them, I fell.
Chapter 6
Thorne
This wasn’t what I expected. Not even close.
When she’d vanished into shadow—dissolved like smoke before my eyes—I’d been momentarily stunned. No one in Varrowmere had wielded that kind of magic in generations. Shadowmancy had been lost to time, whispered of only in legends and old war records.
And yet, here she was. A girl dressed in rags and desperation, holding onto a half-conscious boy like he was the only thing anchoring her to this world. A street rat with a storm of ancient power curling around her bones.
And the timing… gods, the timing. I had felt her magic flare to life just moments before the explosion. The same explosion orchestrated by the rebels.
Coincidence?
I didn’t believe in those.
Phoenix stood at my side, his arms folded as his grey eyes swept the room. He tilted his head, brows furrowed.
“This doesn’t look like a rebel base,” he muttered, voice low.
