I blinked. “Thorne?”
He nodded. “There’s a small town tucked into the cliffs. Green Valley, it’s called. Isolated. Half-forgotten. Most maps don’t even mark it anymore.”
“He never said anything.”
“He wouldn’t,” Phoenix said softly. “He doesn't talk about it. But that’s where he was born. Just past the treeline, before the Wilds swallow the rest.”
I looked back at the dark mass on the map—so vast, so empty.
“He came from that?” I asked.
Phoenix’s mouth twitched. Not quite a smile.
“He survived that,” Phoenix said quietly. “He and his family. Thorne and… Allison. They were both mind mages.”
My brow furrowed. “Allison? I thought she was Leo’s sister.”
Phoenix shook his head slightly. “She became everyone’s little sister. Especially Leo’s, he really loved her. But no—she and Thorne were blood. Twins, actually.”
I blinked. “Twins?”
He nodded, eyes drifting, like he was seeing something far away.
“She was ten minutes younger. That’s why he always called her his baby sister. I was fourteen when I met them. Thorne and Allison were dragged into the Citadel in chains. Two feral little things from the edge of the Wilds. No training. No control. Just raw magic—and fear.”
I tried to picture it. Thorne, young and wild. Little Allison.
“They tried to separate them once,” Phoenix said softly. “It didn’t go well.”
I looked at him. “But Thorne’s so…”
“Controlled? Calm?” Phoenix gave a faint, humourless smile. “He didn’t start that way.”
I hesitated. “What was her power?”
“Illusions,” he said quietly. “But not just tricks of the eye. She could make you see anything—and believe it. It would feel it like it was real.”
His voice dropped a little.
“She could crawl into your mind. She could show you every memory you’ve ever had—all at once. The beautiful ones. The terrible ones. The ones you didn’t know you’d forgotten.”
A chill crept down my spine.
“She didn’t always mean to do it,” Phoenix added, his voice softer now. “Especially when she was younger.”
I swallowed. “What happened to her?”
He hesitated. Then:
“Having access to power like that… Allie was never exactly stable. Thorne used to manage her emotions—to keep her calm, grounded. Maybe that’s where his control issues started.”
His eyes darkened.
“But once Ashton figured out what she could do, he started pushing her. Harder. Crueller. He wanted more control, more precision, more…pain.He turned her mind into a weapon. And she broke under it.”
“Where is she now?” I asked.
Phoenix’s expression tightened.
