While Adam's scream still echoed in my head, I opened my eyes to a void where someone lay in the middle of carved stone, strange symbols circling their body.
The space was drowned in darkness, yet a shaft of light fell from above, illuminating only the circle of stone. Only that person and I were there.
"Dreck?" My voice echoed endlessly into the emptiness.
Something wet touched my bare feet.
"Water?" I thought.
I waited for the familiar voice inside my head to answer me. Nothing.
I rose slowly and stepped toward the figure. As the shadows thinned, recognition struck me.
Dreck.
I ran to him and dropped beside his body.
"Dreck?"
He was cold, his eyes closed, hands limp at his sides on the damp stone. His tattoo glowed faintly, like embers fighting to survive.
I pressed two fingers to his neck.
Alive. Barely.
His heartbeat faltered beneath my touch, so slow it terrified me.
"Dreck, you need to wake up," I whispered, shaking him gently.
The chamber was unbearably cold, every sound swallowed by silence. And still—I could feel it. We were not alone.
"...Taty?" His voice rasped as his green eyes opened weakly.
"I'm here. I'm here," I breathed, cradling his head against my chest, trying to lift him. Too weak. So I laid him across my thighs, keeping his face away from the pooling water.
"What happened?!" I asked, desperate.
"I failed… I'm sorry… I didn't… tell you…" His words cracked, falling apart with his breath.
"No. No. You'll tell me everything later. We'll get out of here, you'll tell me everything—or not at all, I don't care. Just stay alive."
"Tafokt…"
"Don't call me that! You're not dying."
"Taty… what did I tell you… about listening?"
"That I should shut up and listen."
"Then do it." He laughed weakly, only to collapse into coughing.
"Really? A dickhead even now?" I rolled my eyes through tears.
"Right now… you're in my head. This is… my power," he said, coughing again.
"Help me sit."
I braced him, lifting him upright, his weight slumped against my shoulder. For the first time in years, our eyes met—and stayed.
"My power is brain control. I can read thoughts, twist them, even alter memories. My father trained me for the day Ash came for me."
"Who is Ash?"
"Taty… the human world is not for us. Find your tribe. They'll teach you, tell you everything…" His voice broke into coughs again.
"Dreck…" I laid him back down.
"My… father trained me all my life. And still, Ash beat me. He took my mother, used her to hold me. He'll use me to reach you. His goal has always been you. Whatever you see, hear, believe—don't trust it. Find your truth."
Tears blurred my vision. "I will."
"Taty, your dad…"
"I know. He's the reason your mom—"
"No."
"Don't lie to me, Dreck. I saw it."
His eyes widened. "How? She… spoke to you?"
"Who is she?"
"It's not my place. You'll know in time…"
"Please, just tell me."
He doubled over, coughing blood.
"Taty, listen. Your father is controlled by Zahra. Your mother… she's a shadow. My mom knew when you first moved to the neighborhood—they were watching the door."
"What…?"
"Shut up and listen!" His voice cracked into a cough. "You wanted the truth. Then hear it—before it's too late."
"My mom? She's a shadow?"
"She's not your mother. Not anymore. Zahra was taken by Ash when you were born. He knew your strength, so he wanted your trust, to watch your growth. He knew my parents were guarding the door and—"
"And what?"
"He used your father… to get to your mother."
"Why take Cyra but spare your dad?"
"Because… my mom hid the door with her power. They need you to open it—it only answers to you."
"Why me? Can we save them? Are they dead, or just captured? Why didn't he take me?"
He hesitated, as if holding back something I wasn't ready for.
"Tell me," I demanded.
"I can't answer everything. But he waited for your power. Mine surfaced the year I left—I could hear everyone's thoughts. It drove me mad. He wanted yours while you were untrained. Weak."
"Is that why you pushed me into the pool?"
"Yes. I thought I was ready—but I couldn't block your thoughts."
"So instead of leaving, you pushed me in?"
"I didn't want to hear you thinking about… how much you wanted to kis—"
"Okay! Enough." Heat rose to my cheeks. "And the gun?"
"It was real."
"I knew it."
We both laughed, though the sound was sharp with sorrow.
"At first I thought you were the shadow. The blackmail—it was my dad feeding Ash information. I thought you were threatening me. When I realized it was you… I just wanted more time to talk to you. Before he forced me to kill you and claim your soul. I tried to stall him. Even used your daddy issues against you."
"Asshole."
"But it worked," he coughed.
"Barely."
"Ask your questions, Taty. Time is running out."
"You're not dying."
"He'll claim my soul, twist my power against you. Against humanity. I won't serve him."
"We'll find a way out. Just hold on."
"I can't hold anymore. He's too strong. Ask."
"What happens if I open the door? What's on the other side?"
His green eyes darkened with fear.
"Behind that door are both your people… and your enemies."
"What does that mean?"
His coughs grew violent, blood splattering his face.
"Dreck?"
"Taty… don't go home. Find Emmeline. Find Taylor—" His body convulsed, blood staining his lips.
"No! Stop talking like you're dying. I'll find help. You can tell me later."
I tried to rise, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his lips.
His touch trembled, yet carried the weight of a plea. Blood smeared my skin, hot and bitter, stealing my breath.
The kiss was iron and sorrow, yet beneath it lingered the boy I once knew—the boy with green eyes who laughed beneath the sun before shadows claimed him. Fragile and desperate, it bound us together, light and fading flesh, everything we had never said aloud.
I felt him slipping away, even as I tried to anchor him with my light, as if love could chain him to this world.
" I.. love..you," Dreck whispered against my lips.
When I pulled back, crimson stained my mouth. His gaze—those green eyes—flickered like a dying candle.
" I love you too" I whispered.
He smiled, then his eyes widened.
He tried to tell me something.
" What?" I whispered.
I put my ear to his lips
" r..r..u.."
And then, silence. His chest stilled beneath my hand. His warmth vanished. Yet his eyes—oh, his eyes—were the last to leave me.
I touched his cold face, brushing his cheek.
"Dreck?" My voice broke.
"This isn't funny, Dreck." I shook him, hit his chest, as though pain could force him back. "Wake up! You can't just kiss me and die. Wake up!"
Tears blurred everything. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I was late," I sobbed into his chest. "Cyra… I failed you too. It's all my fault."
"Dreck, please. Please."
"Wake me up. Please. This is a dream. Just another dream." My mind reached for my mother's voice, for the escape of illusion. "Yes… yes, a dream, like when she died. I just have to get out. Think. Think."
I staggered to my feet, searching the void. A light shimmered from nowhere.
"Dreck!" I screamed into the abyss. "Wake me up!"
Only my echo answered.
I gave up, kneeling again beside him. I wiped the blood gently from his face with the running water. My hand lingered over his eyelids, ready to close them, but something in me faltered.
I looked one last time.
His eyes were no longer green. They had turned… purple.
"No." my tattoos started burning harder than before.
I stumbled back, senses reeling, before a cold hand seized my throat. Dreck's grip.
He slammed me to the stone floor.
I gasped, staring up at him.
He smiled.
Ash had him.