“Let me be clear,” she said. “Quinns are not weak. Quinns endure.”
Her gaze hardened.
“If my family is not returned to me within three days, I will order the Soldiers of Light to begin executions.”
The room tilted.
At the end of the line —
Kieran.
Bound.
“No.”
The word tore out of me, raw and helpless.
It felt like my worst nightmare — not the fall, not the soldiers, not the river — but this.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why would she—”
I turned to Sable.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t soften. Her face was unreadable, like she’d already burned through whatever this revelation had cost her.
Why would she want me back?
The thought made my chest seize.
The room closed in around me.
I turned and ran.
Down the hall, past doors and voices I couldn’t hear, until cold air slammed into my lungs and I burst onto the balcony.
Only then did I stop — gripping the railing, shaking, trying to breathe around the truth crashing down on me.
I sensed him before I saw him.
Dev stepped up beside me slowly, careful, like I might bolt if he moved too fast.
“Seph?”
I spun on him. “This is my fault.” The words spilled out, frantic.
The words didn’t even make sense, but I couldn’t stop them.
“I shouldn’t have gone for that ride. I shouldn’t have left. If I’d stayed—”
He closed the distance and caught my jacket, anchoring me. “It will be okay, Seph.”
I laughed — a broken, breathless sound. “How do you know that? How?” My voice cracked. “It’s Kieran. And Ash—” My throat closed. “Oh my god. Ash.”
My legs gave out beneath me. I sank to my knees, air coming too fast, too shallow, panic clawing at my ribs.
Footsteps sounded behind us — heavy, uneven. Slow.
“The fault was mine, little one,” a voice said softly.
