It tumbled— and hit the dirt. Shattered.
Elira froze. The crowd did too.
“Oh, fuck,” I breathed.
Phoenix didn’t move, eyes wide.
“Was that…”
“Yes,” I said flatly.
Caelen’s sword dropped instantly, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry… didn’t mean—”
But she was already moving. She dropped her blade and fell to her knees, snatching the broken pieces from the dirt with shaking hands. Her breath hitched—sharp, like she’d been struck.
“Elle—” I started forward.
She turned—and shoved Caelen hard in the chest. Then ran.
Chapter 11
Phoenix
We followed her.
The wind off the cliffs was sharp and cold.
When I saw her, she was on her knees, hands trembling as she tried to thread the broken necklace back together—but her fingers wouldn’t work.
She kept trying. Over, over, and over.
“Please,” she whispered. “Just hold. Please.”
The string slipped again. And again. And then—
She screamed.
It wasn’t a cry. It was a sound torn from her lungs like something dying.
Her hands clenched. “Stupid, stupid hands,” she hissed. “I break everything.”
I stepped forward. I wanted to reach out to her—but she leapt like she meant to run.
“Don’t!” she screamed, spinning. “Don’t touch me. Don’t come near me. Don’t look at me like that!”
We all froze.
She yanked on her hair, hard, like she wanted to tear it from her head.
She paced, gasping—trying to breathe, but it was getting too hard.
She clutched at her stomach like she could hold it all in, but her walls were cracking.
Leo looked stricken, his hands half-lifted like he ached to hold her.
Slade’s eyes flicked to me, wide and helpless, like I might have the answers.
But I didn’t.
