Page 82 of Echoes From the Void
“We were wrong before,” I say quietly, reaching for Finn’s hand. Our essence mingles where we touch—shadow and light finding perfect balance. “Mother wasn’t trying to create more twins. She was trying to keep us alive long enough to make this choice ourselves.”
“The choice has to be ours,” Finn agrees, his light melding with my shadows in swirling patterns. “Not forced by Valerie. Not bred by Blackwood. Not even guided by Mother.”
“Chosen,” I finish. “Freely. Knowingly. With full understanding of what it means.”
Matteo’s shadows writhe with protest, reaching for me with desperate intensity. Dorian’s frost spreads across the walls in fractured patterns of denial. And Leo... Leo just watches us with eyes that have already lost too much.
“You can’t ask us to accept this,” Matteo says, voice rough with emotion. His shadows wrap around me like he could keep me safe through sheer will. “You can’t ask us to watch you die.”
“We’re not asking for acceptance,” Finn says gently. “Or permission.”
“We’re asking for help,” I add, feeling our twin bond pulse stronger with shared purpose. “Because we can’t do this alone.”
“And if we refuse?” Leo’s question carries the weight of potential loss.
I meet his gaze steadily. “Then we’ll do it anyway. And probably fail.”
“And die faster,” Finn adds with grim humor.
Silence falls as our words sink in. Through pack bonds, I feel their struggle—the war between protecting us and supporting us. Between love and duty. Between what they want and what must be.
Finally, Matteo speaks, his voice carrying alpha authority tinged with resignation: “Then we do it together. All of us. No matter what it costs.”
Our bonds pulse with shared determination—not acceptance of sacrifice, but commitment to choice. To facing whatever comes as one.
The void may be waiting.
The corruption may be spreading.
The realms may be fracturing.
But we face it together.
As pack.
As family.
As one.
Chapter 28
Frankie
The Past
The sound of gunshots still echoes in my ears as I stumble through the maintenance tunnel, each step stretching into eternity in perfect darkness. My legs, weak from years of forced inactivity, threaten to give out with every movement. Behind me, dogs’ barking grows closer, their howls bouncing off concrete walls in a terrible chorus.
Dr. Chen’s last words burn in my mind: Live. Really live. Three gunshots had followed, the sound still ringing in my head. Through the drug haze dulling my essence, I felt the moment his life ended. Another death I’ve caused. Another person destroyed because they tried to help me.
The darkness presses in, empty where it once welcomed me. Valerie’s careful cocktail of drugs and starvation did more than weaken my body—it stripped away my connection to shadow essence itself. Where my wolves once prowled, there’s only hollow silence.
I stumble forward, one hand trailing along rough concrete to stay upright. The dogs sound closer now, their barking taking on that excited tone of predators closing in on weak prey. No shadow wolves to protect me this time. No powerto draw on. Just my own fragile body and desperate will to survive.
The tunnel ends abruptly at a metal door, its surface rust-rough under my trembling fingers. Beyond it lies the parking structure Dr. Chen mentioned—and hopefully, the promised car. If it’s really there. If this isn’t another elaborate test. Another way for Valerie to break me.
The car sits exactly where Dr. Chen said it would be: an older sedan, unremarkable in every way. Perfect for disappearing. If I can even drive it.
My hands shake as I retrieve the keys from under the mat, still warm from being hidden there. Five years in the asylum. Before that, foster homes where no one bothered teaching me anything useful. I’ve never even sat behind a wheel.
