Elliot didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
“Actually,” he said evenly, “I can. And I will.”
My chest tightened. “Then what am I? A prisoner?”
“No,” he replied immediately. “A responsibility.”
“One who isn’t allowed to leave,” I shot back.
“One who isn’t allowed to walk into a kill zone unprepared,” Elliot corrected evenly. “I’m not stripping you of freedom, Seph. I’m buying you time. The alternative gets you killed — and anyone stubborn enough to follow you.”
“You mean Ash.”
“Or Dev. Or Kieran.”
“Kieran wouldn’t,” I said quietly. “He’d just lock the doors and call it protection.”
A faint breath of amusement touched Elliot’s expression. Not mockery. Something older.
“I think you would be surprised at what he would do for you, Seph.”
I narrowed my eyes, anger buzzing just beneath my skin. “Taking away my choices is not protection.”
“No, it’s leadership,” Elliot said.
“I don’t cage my people. I don’t cut them off from their allies. But no one leaves this compound without a plan.” His gaze sharpened. “Especially not you.”
My jaw clenched. “Because I’m dangerous?”
A pause.
“No,” he said quietly. “Because you’re valuable.”
“I need to find her,” I said, the words tearing out of me. “I need to find Echo. He will hurt her. You don’t understand.”
Elliot’s jaw tightened. “I understand exactly what Marr does,” he said. “And that’s why I won’t let you walk back into his hands.”
“Echo is out of our reach right now. How will you get past the guards? How will you fight Marr?” His voice stayed level, relentless. “All that will happen is you’ll end up right back there — like you were in that ward. Part of his machine.”
“I can’t leave her!” I shouted. “She’s my sister!”
Something sharp flashed across Elliot’s face — not cruelty but resolve.
“Sable is your sister,” he said firmly. “Echo is a life Marr created - to control you. And if we rush in blind, he will turn her into a weapon — against you, against all of us.”
“You don’t get it, Elliot,” I said, my voice shaking. “I was inside her mind. I heard her thoughts. She’s more than what he made her. And she’s relying on me to save her.”
Elliot didn’t interrupt. He watched me closely, like he was deciding how much truth I could bear.
“I read your files,” he said at last. “Before they disappeared. I know exactly what Echo is.”
My stomach tightened.
“She was built from your DNA,” he continued. “Grown deliberately. Refined.” His voice stayed even, careful. “Marr selected every trait, every strand. Not to imitate you — but to mirror you.”
I felt cold spread through my chest.
“Echo isn’t just Light magic,” Elliot said. “She’s pure output. She doesn’t have a limiter. If she is turned against the world — cities would burn.”
